Here’s how two Indian moms are making ragi and millets cool

Now you can buy your four-year-old a snack that can make his bones stronger. Powered by two core ingredients — ragi and jowar — Delhi-based Slurrp Farm will launch their latest product next month. Neither fried nor baked, the Mighty Munch and Mighty Puff made from extruded whole grains will serve up a literal ‘pop’ of nutrition with every bite! 

“We won’t promise this will make you taller, smarter or send you to IIT,” says Meghana Narayan (40), one half of the duo behind the brand, taking a bit of a jab at hyped advertising that sounds all too familiar. But the MBA graduate from Harvard Business School who is a mother herself (which is the ultimate seal of approval for moms everywhere) adds, “We will say that ragi offers ten times the amount of calcium than wheat and rice — so it is incredibly important for growing bones.” 

Available in flavours that are both sweet and savoury — look out for three categories in this snack attack: Tangy Tomato, Choco Ragi and Cheese and Herbs. At Rs 20 a packet, the kid-friendly packaging with a blue rhino in a superhero cape claims no transfats (like high fructose corn syrup — commonly hidden in packaged foods) and despite zero preservatives lists an impressive nine-month shelf life.  

'

Our picks
• Ragi and chocolate cookies 
(tasty enough to be hooked on to)
• Banana choco-chip pancake 
(not too sweet, but delicious enough to be eaten by itself)
• Millet Dosa with spinach packs in 17 grams of protein
with foxtail millets, urad, toor, moong and channa dals
(pairs beautifully with a sambar or tomato chutney).
 

Meghana co-runs the company alongside fellow mom Shauravi Malik (36), who has a Masters in Economics from Cambridge University. Both left flourishing careers abroad to create healthy options for children in the Indian food market. In short, Shauravi sums up, “The fundamental notion that drives us is that we need to eat like our grandparents did.” 

For those who haven’t shopped at Slurrp Farm before, this Indian mommy duo has been using indigenous ingredients like ragi, millets and lentils in contemporary ways since they launched back in 2016. Think cereals for toddlers with ragi, oats, bananas and apple and millet-based pancake and dosa mixes and ragi and chocolate cookies. From their explosive expansion spree since — selling online on portals like Amazon and Big Basket as well as in 200 physical stores across six cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Kochi (Hyderabad and Chennai to follow) — one thing is clear. It isn’t just the moms that approve, the kids do too.

Available online. Prices Rs 20 to Rs 300.

sonali@newindianexpress.com | @brightasunshine