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 | – | – | – | – | √ |
Related culinary posts
This cereals names post from the blog archives (first published in September 2009) has been updated and republished on 23 June 2021.
Thank you
welcome seema
Hi, Do you know the indian name for Einkorn and rye grains. I have been searching for a long time and nobody seems to know it.
I would really appreciate it if you know it and can tell me.
Thank you.
i don’t know what is einkorn. but rye i have seen in india in super markets. there is no indian name i suppose. all the packets or rye and rye flour i have seen are imported from europe and america.
Awesome page
Hi Aarthi,
Einkorn was the first strain of wheat which was cultivated 10,000 years ago by Neolithic Homo Sapiens. There is a foreign website which sells this variety, I can’t remember the name. The positive thing is that Einkorn variety is non GMO & non hybridized compared to today’s wheat.
nice to know this info. thanks koria
I would be also very interrested to know the name of the Einkorn in traditional Indian language!
awesome work…
awesome page . i just turned gluten free so wanted to make parathas with jowar atta or singhare atta . this is great. i can now buy all these from Patel Brothers here in New York !
appreciate it 🙂 and blessings to you
welcome naini and thanks for your blessings.
Dear Dassana, I am having troubles understanding a flour at my local bazaar. It is called “Charri” flour.
I was hoping you would know what grain it comes from. I thought maybe Sorghum?
I thought you would be the perfect person to ask….
Nolan
thanks nolan. actually, i googled as this word does not come in my mother tongue language. my results told me its sorghum or jowar. a reader has mentioned below as sabudana, but its not sabudana or tapioca pearls.
Thanks for this, really helps people with dietary restrictions because of blood sugar and bp problems.
welcome anjali
Do oats have gluten?
hi ruby, pure oats do not have gluten. but when processed, they might get mixed with wheat etc. read more here – http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreegrains/f/Is-Oatmeal-Gluten-Free.htm
give me some time to reply to your other comment.
I have gluten allergy. Following are grains i can have. What are their indian names?amaranth
arrowroot
buckwheat
cassava
millet
quinoa
rice
sorghum
soy
tapioca
Also, what are oats?
Thnx
updated on the post.
Kuttu ka atta or Flour for fast food in north india in English ?
Kuttu Ka Atta in english is buck wheat flour.
“..OAT= JOI,
BARLEY= JOB,
CORN=BHUTTA / MOKAI…”
thanks partho. you have cleared the confusion. even i did not know what oats or barley are called in bengali. i will update the post.
Hi D…
As far as I know that the scientific name of Oat and Barley is different but some sites posted that the bengali name of Oat is Jav and the bengali name of Barley is also Jav… !
Plz clear the matter with reference.
Its nice collection, no doubt will help too student
thanks for providing an easy access .
welcome manpreet
1. You forgot to mention:
Oat- jai ( pronounced ja-ee)
2. You have mentioned sabudana as both Sago and Tapioca pearls. The two are not the same but Sago pearls are similar in appearance to tapioca pearls and the two may be used interchangeably in some dishes.
3. Otherwise you have done a good job, thank you.
okay. will update the oats part. i know sago and tapioca are technically different. in india, though sabudana is called as sago. its actually the linguistic term used for sabudana in india. i will mention a small note. thanks.
Please say about “quinoa”. What is the name is quinoa in hindi.
i don’t know. quinoa is not grown in india and hence there is no hindi term for it. it is basically grown in chile and not in india.