Desi Bajra Flour (Desi Bajari Peeth)

Bajra flour milled fresh from desi bajra grown by our farmer members, coarse enough to hold a bhakri together and fine enough to pat out thin. Marathi kitchens call it bajari peeth and reach for it once the weather turns.

Milled in small lots

Bajra carries oil in its germ, which is exactly why old flour tastes bitter. We grind small quantities through the week instead of milling a season's worth in one go. The packet you open was flour a few days ago and grain before that.

Making bhakri with it

Hot water, not cold, and knead it longer than feels necessary. Rest the dough ten minutes, take a ball and pat it out on the counter with dry flour underneath. On the tava, water brushed across the top is what makes it puff. Eaten with thecha, pithla, raw onion and white butter through December and January. Leftover flour goes into thalipeeth with jowar and besan.

Packs and storage

Sold in 1kg and 2kg. Keep it in an airtight steel dabba, and through a Pune summer the fridge is a better home. Finish it inside a month while the grassy sweetness is still there.

Mix it with desi jowar flour for a softer bhakri, or keep thalipeeth bhajani alongside for breakfast. Everything else is under grains and flours.

Frequently asked questions

Why does bajra flour turn bitter

Fat in the germ oxidises with time and warmth, and that is what your tongue reads as bitter. Freshly milled flour has none of it. Keeping the dabba in the fridge slows the process a great deal.

Can I make bajra bhakri with cold water

You can, but the edges crack and the dough fights you while patting. Hot water softens the starch and the dough co operates. Most people who find bhakri difficult were using cold water.

Is bajra bhakri the same as jowar bhakri

Two different grains, two different flours. Bajra is darker, denser and much stronger in taste, jowar is pale and mild. Bajra belongs to winter in most Maharashtrian homes while jowar runs right through the year.