Kodo Millet

Hear it pour

On the pack

Ingredients

Kodo Millet Grains

Shelf life

Best before nine months from packing

Storage

Transfer the contents to an airtight container after opening and store in a cool, dry place. Do not buy a pack that is open, tampered or punctured.

Where it began

• Kodo millet originated in India; it was domesticated here some 3,000 years ago. (FAO — International Year of Millets 2023, de Wet et al. 1983, Economic Botany)

In the Vedic rituals

No Vedic text names kodo millet. The one related line is in a medieval commentary on a household rite, which lists kodrava among the grains that are NOT offered.

In the old books

• Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra (2.24.12) lists kodrava — kodo millet — among the crops sown first in the season. (Arthaśāstra, GRETIL text, Monier-Williams)
• The Amarakośa, the classical Sanskrit thesaurus, gives koradūṣa as another name for kodrava. (Amarakośa, GRETIL text)
• The Sangam-era Tamil anthology Puṟanāṉūṟu (poem 34) mentions varaku — kodo millet in the Tamil Lexicon. (Puṟanāṉūṟu, Project Madurai, Tamil Lexicon)
• Apastamba Grihya Sutra, Haradatta's commentary, ApGS 8.3, Anakula commentary — The only kodrava found in this search: a medieval commentary lists dark grains such as chickpea and kodrava among foods the learned do not offer in household rites. It is a commentary, not a Vedic text. (source)
• Kṣemakutūhala, 10th utsava, verses 31-32 — Laḍḍus made from ghee-fried papads of urad, mung, kodrava or rice, crushed with sugar and coated with sugar syrup. (source)
• Bhojanakutūhala, Part 1, printed p. 125 — Dhānyāmla, a fermented sour gruel, is said to be made from rice flour or from kodrava and other grains. (source)

How it was cooked

• Kodrava (Plain Boiled Kodo Millet, from Kautilya's Arthashastra)From Arthashastra, traditionally placed in the Mauryan period

Nutrition of the grain, per 100 g (raw)

Source: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition · food code A017 (Varagu). Energy converted from the tables’ kJ (1 kcal = 4.184 kJ). Published values for the grain, not a laboratory test of this pack.

Where to buy

On the shelf at 84 DMart stores in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.