Bajra is the common flour used to make rotis and other dishes in the North Indian states. Earlier a staple diet of people living in the rural belts, today Bajra with Jowar, and Ragi flour have entered the regular diet of city bred sophisticates. The reason for this is simple, with emphasis on nutritional food value people are looking for alternative good food options, which grandmothers recommended! What the modern generation ignored until now is largely becoming a part of the staple diet and for good reasons too.
Due to the high nutritional content along with the presence of carbohydrates and fats, sometimes people mistakenly consider bajra fattening. But the fact is, bajra contains 260 calories every one third cup, which is approx the amounts you need to make a single large roti. This is nothing in comparison to what you need in a day. A grown up person needs around 1200-1800 calories in a day. Those who are on a diet can not only get a large portion of their daily calorie from bajra but also acquire crucial nutrition and minerals.
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Fiber and protein content in bajra is quite high especially tryptophan, methionine, and lysine. This is higher in millet compared to other grains. Again, this flour is a high source of Vitamin B1 or thiamine along with B2 and B3. High mineral content of potassium and iron adds to its associated nutritional benefits. Substantial calorie and fat in millet helps a person to keep warm during the cold winters. Nowadays, nutritionists place so much importance on inclusion of whole grain in the daily diet and the presence of bajra surely adds to the overall health benefits to people of all age groups.
While it must be clear by now that bajra is not at all fattening, the question that arises is how this misconception came into being! One reason for this can be that traditional Indian families never forget to add ghee to millet flour during roti preparation and this is where the problem arises. If you mix the flour with ghee or spread it on the prepared roti you are making a healthy food unhealthy. Resultant, it becomes fattening.
Then why blame it on nutritious bajra when the fault lies in how we prepare it. Eat this grain wisely and see your waist getting slimmer instead of fattening up!