<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

[NOTE:  I use Canadian standards in determining GF status.  Others may not
consider millet (or the other grains mentioned) to be GF; follow your own or
your doctor's judgment.]

The other day, in an Indian grocery store in Toronto, I bought a sack of
flour labelled "Bajra (millet)".  When I opened it last night, to my
surprise, it was *dark grey*, not yellow.  After a few confused moments, I
realized it must be sorghum flour (the regular kind, not Jowar).  I checked
some reference books, and found that the term "millet" is indeed used in
various countries to describe not only the yellow millet we're familiar with,
but also sorghum and teff.  [reference:  Cook Right 4 Your Type, by Dr.
Peter D'Adamo]

This has a few ramifications:

1) To those of you looking for sorghum in Indian shops, try calling it
"bajra" or "millet" and you might have more luck.

2) It explains my lack of success with "millet flatbread" recipes in Indian
cookbooks!  I always wondered how entire regions of India could subsist on
millet bread, as I found it quite revolting...  <g> I'm looking forward to
trying the recipes again, with the right "millet" flour, i.e.  sorghum.

In my preliminary experiments (gingersnaps and bread), I found sorghum flour
tastier and easier to handle than many GF flours.  If I see Jowar flour at
the store, I might try it, but regular sorghum seems OK to me.  (I don't
understand this "cattle feed" argument that was mentioned recently.  Surely
the Indian people buying bags of sorghum flour in downtown Toronto aren't
feeding it to cattle?  :)  ) Admittedly, the bread looks like grey plasticine
when it goes into the oven; but it comes out a nice golden colour, and the
texture reminds me of the 100% whole wheat bread I used to make.  It's much
less bitter than yellow millet flour or most bean flours, and a little extra
honey would take care of this nicely.

BTW, there were also some concerns expressed on the list about flours sold in
Indian grocery stores, namely that repackaging could lead to contamination
with wheat flour.  This may or may not be a valid concern, but in any event,
the flour I buy isn't packaged in the store.  There are several mills in
Canada making non-wheat flours such as besan (chick-pea), urid dal (lentil),
bajra and yellow pea.  They're sold in white paper sacks, under various
Indian brand names.  Some are labelled GF, and I prefer these, but I use the
others as well.

Hope this helps someone!  I'll post some sorghum recipes soon, along with
whatever nutritional info I can find.  If you have any questions, just ask.

Eleanor Symonds
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