Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Chef Anahita Dhondy Champions Millets Through Her New Grain Cookbook
Chef Anahita Dhondy wants more people to eat different kinds of grains.
She became especially interested in millets while experimenting in her kitchen around 2014 and 2015.
She says millets can be good for the environment, farmers and people who eat them.
Her new book, The Grain Kitchen, shows how to use grains in many dishes.
The recipes include Indian foods and foods from other countries.
Grains can be cooked in different ways, including as flour or like rice.
Dhondy says people should add unfamiliar grains slowly while learning how to prepare them.
She also says grains can be part of a balanced meal and are not automatically fattening.
Her goal is to make grain-based cooking easier and more enjoyable at home.
Anahita Dhondy says she began experimenting with millets around 2014–15 while working at SodaBottleOpenerWala.
Her new book, The Grain Kitchen, features Indian and international recipes using diverse grains.
Dhondy describes millets as locally grown, nutritious, versatile and beneficial to farmers, consumers and the planet.
She says millets can be used as flour or cooked like rice, but recommends introducing them gradually.
Dhondy hopes the book helps readers incorporate more grains into everyday cooking and develop more diverse palates.
- Who
- Chef and sustainability advocate Anahita Dhondy.
- What
- She is promoting millets and other grains through her cooking, advocacy and book The Grain Kitchen.
- When
- She began experimenting with millets around 2014–15, spoke about them at the United Nations in 2018, and discussed the subject in connection with her new book.
- Where
- Her work focuses on grains from India and their use in home cooking; she also discussed millets at international and national conferences.
- Why
- She believes diverse grains are nutritious, versatile and beneficial for the planet, farmers and consumers, and wants more people to use them in everyday meals.
- New book
- The Grain Kitchen
- Earlier book
- The Parsi Kitchen
- Millet experimentation
- Dhondy began experimenting with millets around 2014–15 while working at SodaBottleOpenerWala.
- United Nations appearance
- She spoke about millets at the United Nations in 2018.
- Millet milestone
- 2023 was declared the Year of the Millet by the FAO, according to Dhondy.
- Recipe range
- The Grain Kitchen includes Indian and international recipes, from simple dishes to some more technical preparations.
- Cooking uses
- Dhondy says grains can be used as flour or cooked like rice.