Ragi milkshake, bajra khichadi, millet momos and lollipops... Sounds exciting, intriguing and delicious? These recipes were developed at Raigarh Millets Cafe, Chhattisgarh’s first eatery to serve exclusive millet-based foods.
The cafe was started in 2022 with a will for innovation and a desire for creating a successful model, where nutrition could merge with taste. It all started with the recognition that millets are indeed nutri-cereals as well as a pathway for women’s empowerment not just economically but also nutritionally, culturally and climatically.
From Transform Rural India (TRI), we had been supporting the state and district administrations in Chhattisgarh for creating an awareness and impact around millets. To create a buzz about its nutritional benefits, it was planned to include millets in anganwadis. To our surprise, the initiative started gaining popularity and demand. This led us to come up with more recipes wherein the regular flour was replaced with millet flour. Visitors couldn’t believe that the millet items tasted so good.
With some initial financial backing from the government we all took a chance and dived right into it. We chose a place in the heart of the city of Raigarh, which has a lot of hustle bustle. It is also next to schools and colleges and we prepared the estimates for the cafe’s establishment and operations.
We knew that the most important thing that matters when it comes to running a restaurant is the taste and presentation of the dishes. We decided that there was absolutely no compromise on that. So we hired private chefs to prepare a menu with delicacies that were delicious and healthy. And there it was. The Raigarh Millets Cafe.
Also Read | How this Chhattisgarh cafe mainstreamed millets
Neeraja Nitin Kudrimoti is the associate director, Transform Rural India, in Chhattisgarh.
Edited by: Novita Singh
