Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Food Fest 2026 featured a grand exhibition of ‘Shri Anna’ or millet-based traditional and innovative food products at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, on Saturday.

The fest started on January 30 and will continue till February 1.

The event highlighted India’s rich millet food culture, focusing on healthy ingredients and traditional cooking methods such as steaming, roasting, boiling and fermentation, which use little or no oil.

‘Not occasional food’

Addressing the gathering, museum director Amitabh Pandey said that traditional Indian cooking practices are naturally healthy and balanced. 

He encouraged people to include millets like ragi, jowar, bajra, kodo and little millet in their daily diet rather than treating them as occasional foods.

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Consumed since Indus Valley Civilisation

Nutrition expert Nidhi Pandey stated that millets have been consumed since the Indus Valley Civilisation. 

She added that millets are gluten-free, improve digestion and are useful in managing lifestyle-related health problems. 

She also spoke about seasonal use of millets, benefits of fermentation and adapting millet foods to modern urban lifestyle.

List of stalls

Millet It (Ujjain): Showcased gluten-free products made from jowar, bajra and ragi, including 10 types of cookies and 3 types of crackers. The unit is supported by Government of India’s PMEGP scheme.

Royal Millets: Served healthy roasted snacks and millet mixes made with onion, beetroot, ragi and jowar.

Pure Choice Global: Ragi sev, jowar-bajra roasted mixtures, multigrain chakli, ragi idli mix, bajra khichdi and millet-based chocolates.

Maa Renuka Food: Traditional products made from kodo, little millet, jowar - bajra, jowar poha and paan - jaggery combinations.

Traditional Millets: 19 rare varieties of millets along with flours, porridge mixes, sattu and millet cookies & biscuits.

MILLE-TUM: Showcased millet noodles, chips, cookies and pancakes.

Earthy Way: Ragi chocolate laddoos, jowar-makhana laddoos, multigrain protein laddoos, superfood drinks and millet murmura.

Baiso Organics: Bajra and jowar flour, kodo-kutki millets and 8 varieties of pure honey.

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Different states, local dishes

Dindori, MP: Bamboo tehri, kodo rice, tootki rice, maize roti and toor dal, highlighting nutritious, nature-based cooking using local grains.

Anuppur, MP: Kodo porridge (khichdi), charoda bhaji and paan roti. These are simple, easily digestible and energy-giving foods suited to rural life.

Chhattisgarh: Traditional jowar rice, tomato chutney, kurthi dal and jackfruit curry.

Uttarakhand: Traditional sweets such as dhindhaka laddoo, sheera and jhangora kheer, made using millets and natural sweetness.

Sikkim: Millet momos, millet roti with vegetables and traditional soups, blending Himalayan food culture with millet-based recipes.

Bhopal, MP: Presented ragi idli, ragi chilla and bajra khichdi.

Jhabua, MP: Makke ki roti, bajra and jowar roti, baingan bharta and red chilli chutney, reflecting tribal flavours and the importance of local grains.

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