besan flour

Yes, it is milled to order rather than pre-ground and warehoused. You are welcome to watch it being milled at the counter.

Four to six weeks at room temperature in an airtight container, or two to three months refrigerated. Wholegrain flour contains the germ, and germ oil oxidises over time.

No. It is single-ingredient, with no maida, no rice flour, no bleaching agent and no improver.

Because the bran is still in it and it has not been bleached or sifted. Commercial flours are often refined to a paler, finer product, which changes both the colour and the nutrition.

Yes. Tell us at the counter and we will adjust the grind. Different dishes want different textures, and a single standard grind is a packaging convenience rather than a cooking one.

Ragi, jowar, millet and besan flours are naturally gluten free; wheat-based flours are not. We mill several grains on shared equipment, so if you are coeliac rather than simply avoiding gluten, tell us and we will run a cleaned mill for your order.

Roughly 25 to 30 medium rotis, depending on how thin you roll and how much water the flour takes. Freshly milled wholegrain flour absorbs a little more water than packet flour, so add it gradually.

It is milled to order rather than pulled off a pallet. A packet flour may have been ground months before you buy it, and wholegrain flour starts losing the oils in its germ from the day it is milled. Ours is ground the day it ships, with the bran and germ still in it and nothing bleached or blended.

Whole grain. The bran and germ go into the mill and stay in the flour, which is why it looks darker and coarser than a refined packet flour and why it keeps for weeks rather than months.

Yes, though wholegrain flour absorbs more water than refined flour, so add liquid gradually and expect a denser crumb. For lighter bakes many people blend it with a lighter flour rather than using it alone.