Popular Wheat in Gujarati Cusine

Gujarati

Bhalia

Bhalia wheat also known as Bhalia ghau or Dodh-kani (Daudkhani wheat) or Chasia wheat or Katha wheat. This long-grain wheat (hence, the name Dodh-kani or Daudkhani) is about 1.5 times longer in length than the other varieties and does not need irrigation or rain water to grow but rather sustains itself on the moisture conserved in the soil and from the winter dew! Locals say that Bhalia wheat that is largely cultivated in Bhal region of Gujarat derives its name from the Sanskrit word bhalah meaning forehead suggestive of the flatness of this region like one’s forehead.

Bhalia ghau is very hard and bold with vitreous texture and is extensively used to prepare semolina because of its high protein and carotene content (maximum natural yellow pigment) which has multitude of uses (pasta, macaroni, pizza, spaghetti, vermicelli, noodles and others). Bhaliya ghau is consumed in the form of bhakri and chapatti. As bhaliya wheat contains higher soluble sugars, it is often used to prepare laddu, halwa, churma and thuli.

The Bhalia wheat variety marketed as Gujarat Wheat (GW) – 1 was granted the Geographical Indication Tag (GI) in 2011 for its superior quality, taste and distinctive traits.

Tukdi

This is a soft, golden grain that is traditionally famous across the globe. Mainly cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, it is the most premium variant of wheat available in India. “It is best recommended for making chapatis and phulkas as they turn out to be softer, tastier and healthier. Sharbati wheat is a regional variety derived from the wheat grown in the Sehore and Vidisha regions of MP. Also known as the MP Sharbati wheat, which is sweeter in taste and better in texture. Being rain water irrigated, the soil for Sharbati wheat is high in potash content and low in humidity. This amazingly ends up increasing the protein content of the wheat by almost 2% more as compared to the other wheat variety. This also leads to Tukdi wheat crop skipping the requirement of pesticides being used. This gehu curbs our carbohydrate intake, organically.

Bansi

Bansi wheat is more than a 2500 year old indigenous variety of wheat from our motherland. Along with the green revolution, we lost this variety for hybrid varieties which compare no where close to Bansi when it comes to it's softness, taste, ease of cooking and nutritional profile. It's high in fibre, low gluten, contains more minerals and vitamins, improves digestion due to high fibre. With the extremely high vitamin content Bansi is a wheat which adds that extra zing to our breads, rotis and bakery products.

Courtesy and Compiled by: Chintan Vyas 9825007308

Kishan Bandhu has all above varieties of Wheat for you! Please visit our shop for your orders.