10 benefits of kodra (kodo millet) and its side effects

Every figure below is the IFCT 2017 value for the grain; the full table with rice and wheat beside it is on the kodo millet calories page.

1. 6.4 g of fibre per 100 g, a little over double rice's

Kodo millet holds 6.4 g of total dietary fibre per 100 g, against 2.8 g in raw milled rice, and the ICAR-IIMR booklet records millet bran as a rich source of dietary fibre. The same booklet records that the fibre of kodo and little millet, once written off as an anti-nutrient, is now termed a nutraceutical. The Dietary Guidelines say dietary fibre increases the satiety value of a meal, and they count millets among the whole grains that improve satiety. If kodo is new to your plate, ease it in with water alongside, because a quick jump in fibre can upset the stomach.

2. 2.3 mg of iron per 100 g, 3.6 times rice's

Kodo millet carries 2.3 mg of iron per 100 g against 0.7 mg in raw milled rice. A 2021 systematic review of millet meals and drinks found a 13.2 per cent rise in haemoglobin in anaemic people after regular millet consumption, against 2.7 per cent on their regular diets; its studies covered finger millet, pearl millet, teff and sorghum rather than kodo itself, so read that figure as the millet family's record. To make that iron available, the ICMR-NIN guidelines advise vitamin C on the same plate, guava, pineapple, citrus fruit or a green chutney of coriander and chilli, to lift iron uptake from plants, and they keep tea out of the hour around meals because it binds iron.

3. 122 mg of magnesium per 100 g, the mineral kodo leads rice on

Magnesium is the number that stands out in kodo millet: 122 mg per 100 g, over six times the 19.3 mg that raw milled rice carries, and it sits on the ICAR-IIMR booklet's list of minerals kodo millets are rich in. The ICMR-NIN guidelines describe minerals as governing nerve cell transmission, acid/base and fluid balance, enzyme and hormone activity and the blood-clotting processes, and they name phytic acid as the reason cooking matters: boiling or pressure cooking brings the phytic acid in cereals and legumes down a great deal, making minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc absorbable. A katori of cooked kodo, from 40 g of dry grain, holds roughly 49 mg of magnesium.

4. B vitamins, with 39.5 mcg of folate per 100 g

The ICAR-IIMR booklet records that kodo millets are rich in B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folic acid, and the IFCT 2017 numbers bear the folate out: 39.5 mcg per 100 g, over four times the 9.3 mcg in raw milled rice and ahead of whole wheat's 30.1 mcg. The Dietary Guidelines note that folic acid taken in the pre-pregnancy period and the first 28 days of pregnancy reduces the risk of anaemia; that is a statement about folic acid itself, so ask your doctor about it in pregnancy. A katori of cooked kodo adds about 15.8 mcg.

5. Kodo in the intermediate GI band of a 2021 review

No plain-grain GI figure is printed for kodo millet, so the honest claim rests on the 2021 millet meta-analysis by Anitha and colleagues, whose authors put kodo in the intermediate GI band, 55-69, where millets tested 13 to 35 per cent below high-GI controls. The review's average for millets was 52.7, and the comparison grains in the same paper, milled rice and refined wheat, come to 71.7 and 74.2; millet eating over the long term brought fasting glucose down 12 per cent and post-meal glucose down 15 per cent in people with diabetes, while pre-diabetics moved from 6.65 to 5.67 per cent on HbA1c. That is the family record, not a kodo promise; anyone with diabetes should fix the portion with their doctor or dietitian.

6. The postmenopausal heart claim, in the source's own words

The ICAR-IIMR booklet states that regular consumption of kodo millet is very beneficial for postmenopausal women suffering from signs of cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. That is the booklet's claim, not a clinical trial, so take it as a reason to put kodo on the plate while anyone managing blood pressure or cholesterol keeps their doctor in the loop. On the plate, the grain itself brings little fat (2.6 g per 100 g) or sodium (3.4 mg).

7. The weight swap: 332 kcal against rice's 357

For weight, kodra works as a swap, not an add-on: 332 kcal per 100 g where milled rice has 357, and 6.4 g of fibre where rice has 2.8, so a katori leaves you with fewer calories and more to chew. The Dietary Guidelines put pulses, nuts, chia and flax seeds, whole grains such as millets, vegetables and fruits among the fibre-rich foods that improve satiety and help keep blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides level. A cooked katori comes to about 133 kcal; the best millet for weight loss page lines up the millet-by-millet comparison.

8. No gluten, for people who cannot eat gluten

The ICAR-IIMR booklet states that kodo millets are gluten-free and good for people who are gluten intolerant. Gluten is the cereal protein behind coeliac disease, in which the body's immune response to eaten gluten damages its own tissues; the NHS calls a gluten-free diet the way to keep the symptoms in check and steer clear of long-term complications, and asks that the diet stay healthy and balanced. Kodo millet, like every millet, gives that diet a grain for khichdi, upma and rotis.

9. Protein paired with dal: the 3:1 combination

Kodo millet has 8.9 g of protein per 100 g, ahead of rice's 7.9 g, but like every cereal protein it has lower levels of the amino acid lysine, which pulses supply. The Dietary Guidelines say good quality protein comes from an appropriate combination of cereals and pulses (3:1) and animal source foods. The kodo millet khichdi recipe on this site is exactly that pairing, one cup of kodo to half a cup of moong dal, and a bowl of it carries 10.4 g of protein.

10. Very easy to digest, with an antioxidant laboratory record

The ICAR-IIMR booklet states that kodo millet is very easy to digest, contains a high amount of lecithin and is excellent for strengthening the nervous system. There is a laboratory record behind the grain too: in a 2010 study by Chandrasekara and Shahidi, the phenolic extracts of kodo and other millets showed antioxidant, metal-chelating and reducing powers, and a 2005 study by Hegde and Chandra, using electron spin resonance, reports higher free radical quenching potential in kodo millet.

The cautions for kodo millet are those of any high-fibre whole grain, and the points that come up concern fibre, thyroid and preparation.

• Fibre: at 6.4 g per 100 g, kodo is a jump for a stomach used to polished rice. Start at one katori a day with plenty of water; if gas or bloating continues, cut the portion back.
• Thyroid: goitre worries belong to pearl millet, not kodo. A 2024 systematic review sifted nine papers on millet and goitre, eight on pearl millet and one on fonio, and found the evidence not strong enough to assert that pearl millet eaten as part of a balanced diet leads to goitre in the general population; there is no kodo study either way, and anyone with a thyroid condition should ask their doctor.
• Preparation: rinse the grain and cook it through, and borrow the processing steps the Dietary Guidelines lay out for whole grains and pulses, soaking, sprouting, malting and fermenting, which lift the digestibility and uptake of their nutrients; pressure cooking also trims the phytic acid that can tie minerals up.

Watch the plate around kodo millet too: a heavy ghee tempering, extra salt and a second helping of millet in place of vegetables. Anyone on blood sugar or blood pressure medication should introduce kodo in conversation with their doctor.

The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines give an adult a plate with 250 g of cereals and millets (raw weight) a day, and a note below the tables asks that an adult's cereals include 20 to 30 per cent millets: 50 to 75 g. For children up to ten the share is 20 per cent of cereals. A katori of cooked kodo comes from 40 g of dry grain, so one katori is a modest day's millet; two katoris, cooked from 80 g of dry grain, sit just above the top of the range. The khichdi bowl on this site portions 50 g of dry kodo, squarely inside the range.

If kodo is new on your plate, start below the range and build up as your stomach settles, since the fibre content is the reason. How much is right for you specifically, especially with diabetes or a thyroid condition, is a question for your doctor or dietitian. The grain's full background is on the kodo millet hub.

Kodo millet is used the way rice is used. Wash the grain, add water to cover, and simmer until the grains are tender and the water has gone; then set it under dal, sambar, kadhi or curd rice. Kodo flour makes rotis, with 30 g of flour to a roti, and the grain goes into upma, pongal and payasam the way other small grains do.

The site's kodo millet khichdi recipe is the one-pot version: a cup of kodo (200 g) plus half a cup of green moong dal soak for 30 minutes, then cook in 4 cups of hot water with turmeric and a tempering of ghee, cumin and hing; six minutes on low after the first whistle, ten minutes of rest for the steam to finish the pot, and the reserved half cup of hot water to loosen it. The pot serves four, and a bowl works out to 315 kcal with 10.4 g protein, 46.2 g carbs, 9.1 g fat and 5.5 g fibre. Cooked kodo keeps in the fridge up to two days, the keeping time the UK Food Standards Agency sets for leftovers.

Is kodo millet good for health?

Yes, as part of a balanced plate. Kodo millet carries 332 kcal, 8.9 g protein, 6.4 g fibre and 122 mg magnesium per 100 g, contains no gluten, and is placed in the intermediate GI band, 55-69, by a 2021 millet meta-analysis. The ICMR-NIN guidelines suggest millets make up 20 to 30 per cent of an adult's cereals, 50 to 75 g on their 250 g plate.

Is kodo millet hot or cold?

Neither IFCT 2017 nor the ICAR-IIMR booklet classifies kodo millet as heating or cooling: the booklet does not sort millets by any hot or cold nature, and the IFCT 2017 entry carries no such property, so no sourced heating or cooling claim can be made for the grain. In the kitchen it behaves like rice.

What is kodra?

Kodra is kodo millet, the grain IFCT 2017 enters as Varagu, botanically Paspalum scrobiculatum; kodra is the Gujarati and Punjabi name, and the ICAR-IIMR list gives it as the Marathi name too. The booklet counts it among the indigenous cereals of India, with Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as the growing states. Its ten benefits, tied to the per-100 g numbers, are the list on this page, and the full name list is on the varagu in english page.

Difference between kodo millet and little millet?

They are two different small millets. The kodo names run varagu in Tamil, harka in Kannada and koden in Hindi; the little millet names are samai in Tamil, same in Kannada and kutki in Hindi, each from IFCT 2017 or the ICAR-IIMR lists. In the kitchen they both cook like rice, but they are separate grains with separate names and their own per-100 g profiles.

How to make kodra roti?

Mix kodo millet flour with warm water into a soft dough, rest it briefly, then roll or pat each roti thin on a dusted board and cook it on a hot tawa, turning until both sides are speckled; each roti, from 30 g of flour, lands around 100 kcal. Kodo flour has no gluten, so the dough is less stretchy than wheat dough, and a splash more water fixes a dough that cracks while you roll it.

Is kodra and quinoa same?

No. Kodra is kodo millet, a small millet grown across India; quinoa is a different grain, one that is not a millet. India commonly grows eight millet species on rain-fed land, and the ICAR-IIMR booklet names them: pearl millet, foxtail millet, little millet, proso millet, barnyard millet, kodo millet, sorghum and finger millet. Quinoa is not one of them.