Buckwheat recipes: 8 kuttu dishes for fast and everyday meals

Every dish on this page uses one of two forms. Whole kuttu groats go into the khichdi: soak them for 30 minutes, then cook with one and a half cups of water to every cup of grain. Kuttu atta does the rest of the work, and a 2015 review classes buckwheat as a gluten-free pseudocereal, so without gluten the dough will not stretch; kuttu rotis and puris are patted by hand instead of rolled, usually with a boiled potato or warm water helping the dough bind.

On a vrat day the salt changes too: these dishes are seasoned with sendha namak (rock salt) rather than everyday salt. Per 100 g the seed gives 343 kcal, 13.2 g of protein and 10 g of fibre (USDA FoodData Central), and the atta is that seed milled, so the dishes below carry real substance; what those numbers mean is on the kuttu atta benefits page.

These two carry the vrat meal, and both have full pages.

Kuttu khichdi

A one-pot khichdi of whole groats with potato and roasted groundnuts, finished with a ghee-and-cumin tempering and rock salt. Soak 1 cup of groats (200 g) for 30 minutes, then cook in one and a half cups of water to every cup of kuttu with one stir and a covered simmer; around 35 minutes of work for three bowls of about 350 kcal each. Full method: kuttu khichdi.

Kuttu roti

Kuttu ka atta kneaded with a boiled, mashed potato and enough warm water (up to half a cup), then shaped by patting with wet palms on a greased plate and cooked on a tawa with ghee. Four soft rotis in about 45 minutes, no rolling; a serving is two rotis, about 341 kcal. Full method: kuttu roti.

Kuttu chilla (kuttu cheela)

Whisk 1 cup of kuttu atta with water into a pourable batter, add sendha namak, chopped green chilli and a handful of coriander, and rest it for 10 minutes. Pour thin rounds onto a hot, greased tawa, flip when the edges lift, and serve with curd or a peanut chutney.

Kuttu pakora

Slice one potato and a handful of spinach or cubed pumpkin thin, then fold them through a thick batter of 1 cup of kuttu atta, water and sendha namak, spiked with green chilli and coriander. Drop spoonfuls into hot oil and fry until golden on both sides; drain and serve with sendha namak-seasoned curd.

Kuttu dahi bhalla

Make a thick batter from 1 cup of kuttu atta, a little sendha namak and water, drop spoonfuls into hot oil and fry to golden balls, then soak them in warm water for a few minutes and squeeze gently. Dunk in chilled, salted curd and finish with a pinch of roasted cumin.

Kuttu puri

Knead 1 cup of kuttu atta with one small boiled, mashed potato, sendha namak and warm water a spoon at a time into a firm dough. Divide into small balls, pat each flat with oiled palms, and fry in hot oil until it puffs and turns light golden; drain on paper and serve with a potato or pumpkin sabzi.

Kuttu paratha

Use the kuttu roti dough and pat each ball a little thicker, then cook it on a lower flame, turning twice, with ghee around the edges, until both sides show brown spots; the inside steams soft while the outside crisps.

Kuttu halwa

Roast 1 cup of kuttu atta in 2 tablespoons of ghee over a low flame until it smells toasted, then stir in about a cup of water, a little at a time, and cook out the lumps. Sweeten with jaggery powder, finish with cardamom and a few chopped nuts, and serve warm.

On Navratri days, lunch is usually the khichdi or puri with a potato sabzi, and the pakoras or chilla fill the evening snack slot; on Ekadashi the khichdi and roti carry the day, and the halwa closes it sweet. Outside fast days, the same dishes sit on an ordinary thali, and the khichdi makes an easy weeknight one-pot.

Leftover cooked kuttu keeps up to two days in the fridge, and dry kuttu atta should be used while it smells fresh. For names, storage and how the flour behaves, see the kuttu guide; the dishes with full recipes are the kuttu khichdi and the kuttu roti.

Can kuttu atta be eaten in fast?

Yes. On vrat days many households make kuttu atta the roti, the khichdi, the puri and the pakora of the day, salted with sendha namak instead of everyday salt. The eight dishes above are built for Navratri and Ekadashi, and the two with full recipes are the khichdi and the roti.

Can buckwheat be eaten on ekadashi?

Yes. Buckwheat (kuttu) is commonly kept for the Ekadashi kitchen, when many households set the usual cereals aside; the khichdi of whole groats and the roti from kuttu atta are the two main dishes, and the chilla and halwa fill in around them. The grain carries no gluten, so the same plate suits anyone who avoids wheat, barley and rye.

How to eat kuttu atta?

In roti and khichdi first, then in puri, pakora, chilla and halwa. The flour has no gluten, so the dough is shaped by patting, not rolling; the roti recipe above kneads in a mashed potato, and the khichdi uses whole groats rather than atta. The two full methods are linked in the lunch section above.

What is kuttu ka atta made of?

Only buckwheat: kuttu ka atta is whole buckwheat groats milled into flour, the product the USDA FoodData Central records as 'Buckwheat flour, whole-groat'. A plain pack lists buckwheat and nothing else, and because the whole seed is milled, the atta carries the grain's protein and fibre too.

Is kuttu and singhara same?

No. Kuttu is buckwheat, and singhara atta comes from the water chestnut, a water-grown plant; both flours sit on the vrat shelf, which is where the mix-up begins, but the dishes on this page all use kuttu. The plants and their numbers are set side by side on the kuttu vs singhara comparison.