Ragi, Jaggery and Atta Bakes in Bengaluru: What 'Healthier' Means

We have a category on our menu called Healthy Cookies. We'd like to be honest about what that means, because "healthy" is doing a lot of work on bakery menus these days.

A ragi cookie is a better cookie than many. It is still a cookie. Here's what ragi, jaggery and whole wheat actually change, and what they don't.

What "healthier" can honestly mean

When a bake is described as healthier, it usually means one or more of these:

• More whole grain, so more fibre and a little more nutrition than refined flour.
• Less refined sugar, often by using jaggery instead of white sugar.
• Fewer additives, such as no preservatives and no premixes.

What it usually doesn't mean:

• Fewer calories. A whole wheat cookie has roughly as many calories as a maida one. Butter and sugar are where the calories are.
• Suitable for diabetics. Jaggery raises blood sugar too.
• Gluten-free, unless it specifically says so.

Keep those two lists in mind and you'll read any bakery menu more clearly.

Ragi

Ragi, or finger millet, is about as Karnataka as grains get. Ragi mudde has been on tables here for generations. As a grain, it's naturally gluten-free and brings fibre and calcium.

In baking, ragi gives an earthy, slightly malty flavour and a darker colour. It's lovely with jaggery, which is why the two often turn up together.

On our menu: the Ragi Jaggery Cookies, ₹250 for 200g.

One caution: ragi is gluten-free, but a ragi cookie isn't automatically. Our ragi cookies aren't on our gluten-free list, so please don't treat them as gluten-free.

Jaggery

Jaggery is less refined than white sugar. It keeps some of the molasses, which gives it a deeper, caramel-like taste and traces of minerals.

The honest bit: nutritionally, jaggery is still sugar. It isn't a free pass, and it isn't a diabetic option. What it does offer is flavour, and a less processed ingredient, if that matters to you.

On our menu:

• Ragi Jaggery Cookies, as above.
• Jaggery teacakes. The Banana Walnut, Marble and Oreo teacakes can be baked with jaggery instead of sugar for ₹100 more. The Banana Walnut is a natural fit, since banana and jaggery taste like they were made for each other.

Atta (whole wheat)

Whole wheat flour keeps the bran and germ that maida loses, so you get more fibre and a nuttier flavour. Of the three, this is the swap that makes the most everyday difference, simply because bread is something you eat every day and cake isn't.

On our menu:

• Breads: our Whole Wheat Bread is 100% whole wheat, from ₹59 for a small loaf. There's also the Multigrain Bread, whole wheat pita, oregano subway buns and pizza bases in Breads of the Day.
• Cookies: Whole Wheat Almond, Coconut and Cranberry, each ₹250 for 200g.
• Pizzas: our Wholewheat Pizzas, including ready-to-bake ones you finish in your own oven.
• Cakes and teacakes: most let you choose atta as the flour. On the Banana Walnut and Carrot Walnut teacakes, atta costs nothing extra.

Everything whole wheat is gathered on our whole wheat bakes page.

Sugar-free

Sugar-free is available on custom cakes, made with egg, for ₹200 extra per 500g. Sugar-free doesn't mean carb-free: the flour, cream and fruit are still there. If you're ordering for someone managing diabetes, it's worth checking with them, or their doctor, about what they can actually have.

How we'd use all this

• Make the daily swaps count. Switching your everyday bread to whole wheat does more over a year than any single birthday cake choice.
• Try atta and jaggery in a teacake. A banana walnut loaf made with both is a genuinely good tea-time cake, not a compromise.
• Keep ragi cookies for the 4 PM craving. They're a cookie you can feel reasonably fine about.
• On a birthday, just have the cake. Choose atta if you like the flavour, or gluten-free if someone needs it. Don't choose anything because it's supposed to be virtuous.

The short version

Ragi and atta add whole grain. Jaggery adds flavour and is less processed. None of them makes a cookie a salad. Enjoy them for what they are, and have them alongside a diet that doesn't depend on the bakery for its vegetables.