Cereals Names in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada

Find below a complete list of cereals names (a.k.a names of grains) in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada. This is basically a cereal list that also contains the names of millets in some Indian languages.

This exhaustive cereals list contains names of various grains or cereals in English and some more Indian languages. I have also listed the names of the cereals flour as well as the other products derived from these cereals. Smaller images of these cereals are also displayed in this glossary list. 

Cereals are an integral part in Indian cuisine. Cereals are called as anaj in Hindi. Both various type of grains and millets fall in the broad category of cereals. Millets, amaranth, quinoa are generally seeds and are called as pseudo grains. 

In India, we make so many dishes with a variety of cereals. While rice and wheat form the bulk of the grains that are consumed, millets are also eaten for their health benefits.

Many of the cereals and millets like wheat, rice, finger millet, pearl millet, sorghum etc are ground to flour. Many varieties of flatbreads are made from these flours. Roti or chapati is a staple made from whole wheat flour in many Indian kitchens. Other than we also make flatbreads with sorghum flour, finger millet flour, rice flour, pearl millet flour, buckwheat flour etc.

In fact, many dishes are made like puddings, fried breads, halwa, ladoo, idli, dosa, uttapam etc. Cereals are high in carbs wheres millets are a good source of proteins, carbs and fiber. Do include them in your meal for their health benefits and also to support the local farmers.

While buying grains or cereals, ensure that they are in their shelf-period and are free of any insects or fungi like moulds etc. When possible buy organic if you can.

You can also make your own homemade flours by grinding these grains in a domestic flour mill. Homemade flours are so good and much better than packaged flours.

Store the grains and their flours in dry containers. Ensure that the grains and the flours are moisture-free and dry. Placing a few leaves of tej patta (Indian bay leaf), some cinnamon sticks and a few cloves to reduce the risk of infestation by insects. This helps the grains and flour to be preserved for a longer period of time.

In the table below, the first column consists of the picture of the cereal. The remaining columns are for the names of cereals in the various languages. 

I have also mentioned if the grain or seed is gluten free. The cross (X) indicates that the grain is not gluten-free. Tick mark (√) indicates that the grain is gluten-free.

The English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil translations have been done by me. For more names in other languages, I have referred the book – Modern Cookery by Thangam Philip. 

Please do read the comments section for more information. This cereal list is best viewed in a laptop browser. When browsing in a mobile, scroll the table from left to right.

Cereals Names

Cereal	English	Hindi	Marathi	Tamil	Telugu	Kannada	Gluten free
	Wheat	Gehun	Gahu	Godumai	Godhumai	Godi	X
	Broken wheat, Cracked wheat	Dalia	Lapsi	Godumai ravai	Godhuma rava	Kuttida godi, godi rave	X
	Whole wheat flour	Atta	Kaneek	Godumai maavu	Godhuma pindi	Godi hittu	X
	All purpose flour, Refined flour	Maida	Maida	Maida maavu	Maida pindi	Maida hittu	X
	Cream of wheat, semolina	Sooji, suji	Rava	Ravai	Rava	Rava	X
	Vermicelli	Seviyan, sevai, sev	Shevaya	Semiya	Semiya	Semige	X
	Noodles	Noodles	–	–	–	–	X
	Pasta	Pasta	–	–	–	–	X
	Corn, maize	Makai, bhutta	Makka	Makka cholam	Mokkajona	Mekke jola	X
	Dried corn	Makai ka dana	–	–	–	–	X
	Corn meal, polenta	Makai ka dalia	Makka rava	Cholam rava	Mokkajona rava	Mekke jola rava	X
	Maize flour	Makai ka atta	Makyache Peeth	Makka cholam maavu	Mokkajona pindi	Mekke jola hittu	X
	Cornstarch	Cornflour	–	–	–	–	X
	Barley	Jav	Jau	Barli arisi	Yavam	Barli	X
	Rice	Chawal	Tandool	Pacha arisi	Biyyam	Akki	√
	Parboiled rice	Ukda chawal, sela chawal, arwa chawal	Ukda tandool	Puzhungal arisi	Uppudu biyyam	Kusubalakki	√
	Beaten rice, parched rice, rice flakes	Poha, chiwra, chidwa	Pohe	Aval	Atukulu	Avalakki	√
	Puffed rice	Murmura,	Kurmura Murmure	Arisi pori	Borugulu, murmuralu	Mandakki, kurlari	√
	Rice flour	Chawal ka atta	Tandlache peeth	Arisi maavu	Biyyappu pindi	Akki hittu	√
	Tapioca, sago	Sabudana	Sabudana	–	–	–	√
	Cassava or tapioca flour	Cassava	–	Maravalli kizhangu mav	Karapendalam	Marageanasu	√
	Amaranth seeds	Rajgira, ramdana	–	–	–	–	√
	Amaranth flour	Rajgira atta	–	–	–	–	√
	Buckwheat	Kuttu, kootu	Kuttu	Kotu	–	–	√
	Buckwheat groats	Sabut kuttu	–	–	–	–	√
	Buckwheat flour	Kuttu ka atta	–	–	–	–	√
	Quinoa	–	–	–	–	–	√
	Oats	Jai, javie	–	–	–	–	√
	Pearl millet	Bajra	Bajri	Kambu	Sajjalu	Sajje	√
	Sorghum, milo	Jowar, juar,	Jwari	cholam	Jonnalu	Jola	√
	Finger millet	Mundal, makra, mandua	Nachni	Kizhvaragu	Ragulu	Ragi	√
	Foxtail millet	Kangni	Rala	thinai	Korra	Navane	√
	Little millet	Kutki	Sava, halvi	Samai	Saama	Saame	√
	Barnyard millet	Sama, samvat, swang, vrat ke chawal	Varai, vari,	Kuthiravaali	Odalu	Oodhalu	√
	Kodo millet	Kodon	Kodra	Varagu	Arikelu	Harka	√
	Arrow root flour	Arra root, araruta, paniphal	–	–	–	–	√
	Water chestnut flour	Singhare ka atta	–	–	–	–	√
	Foxnuts	Makhana, phool makhana	–	–	–	–	√

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This cereals names post from the blog archives (first published in September 2009) has been updated and republished on 23 June 2021.