रसोई की बातें

Notes from the chakki, and the kitchens beyond it.

A reading room of recipes, farmer profiles, kitchen lore, and the occasional opinion. Updated every Sunday, on Indian Standard Time.

All Recipes Farmer Stories Kitchen Notes Heritage Grains Health & Nutrition Interviews
Bhakri cooking on a traditional pan
This Week's Read · 6 min

The case for the bhakri, and a recipe that finally works.

For years, our jowar bhakris cracked, our bajra ones turned to brick, and our ragis tasted like cardboard. Then a 78-year-old cook in Pune showed us what we were doing wrong. (Spoiler: it was almost everything.)

By Aanya Mehta · Published 09 May 2026

Read the Recipe
Bajra stalks in a field at golden hour
Farmer Profile

Rajaram of Bikaner, and the bajra that started it all.

How one farmer's stubbornness about heirloom varieties became the cornerstone of our pantry.

Read · 4 min
Glass jars of grains stacked on a wooden shelf
Kitchen Notes

How to store stone-milled flour so it actually stays fresh.

Five rules, one experiment with the freezer, and an unsolicited opinion about plastic.

Read · 3 min
Warm bowl of ragi porridge
Recipe

Ragi malt for monsoon mornings. The way Mysuru does it.

A 15-minute breakfast that has been keeping South Indian kids fed for at least a century.

Read · 5 min
Heap of khapli wheat grains
Heritage Grains

What is Khapli wheat, and why we are quietly obsessed.

The 7,000-year-old grain that the supermarket forgot.

Read · 4 min
Handwritten notes on a wooden table
Health

The glycaemic index, gently explained.

Why some grains spike your blood sugar and others let it down softly. An interview with Dr. Anu Joseph.

Read · 7 min
Old chakki turning, dust in the light
Heritage

The mill at Manchawal, still going at 84 years old.

A morning at the oldest working chakki in our network, and what it can teach us.

Read · 6 min
Stack of golden parathas
Recipe

The lachha paratha, in a Khapli flour version.

It takes patience. It rewards it. With recipe pictures by Tara Khanna.

Read · 5 min
Hands sorting millets in a field
Interview

In conversation with Padma Reddy, millet farmer and matriarch.

On 40 years of growing kodo, the politics of rice subsidies, and a granddaughter who wants to leave the farm.

Read · 8 min
Warm spices and ghee in a bowl
Pantry

Why bilona ghee tastes different (and why it should cost more).

An honest breakdown of how the cultured method works, and why we charge what we charge.

Read · 4 min
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