What is Ready made Atta? Why Should People Buy Ready made Atta

What is Readymade Atta:

Wheat grains, with or without the kernels, pounded and grounded in manufacturing units, is what we call readymade atta. With our lives becoming busy and schedules hectic, we all look for an easy way out, especially when it comes to cooking. However, we are not okay with any kind of compromise when it comes to the nutritional values or taste. Perhaps one of the most needed and bought readymade commodity, that has become a permanent staple in our kitchens today, is readymade atta. Readymade atta today is one of the most used, packed raw ingredient in every home, for a family's nourishment and taste satiation.  Hotels, restaurants and other eateries too, have come around to commercially use readymade atta, for its convenience as well as taste.

Tradition Gives Way to Modernisation:

India, as a country of traditions, has deep-rooted beliefs about each food that is eaten, has a history of healing behind each spice and is a heaven for people who love food in its essence and variety. With modern India making waves, traditions are being infused into the picture to make way for modern India. This is evident in the kitchens too, as whole foods and spices, which were till now, so lovingly pounded and grounded for the whole year, made room for readymade packets of Atta and other grains along with spices.  The concept of readymade atta was accepted and the modern day kitchen gained another staple food in packets.

Acceptance of packed readymade atta did not come easy, though. It brought with itself questions about texture, nutrition and taste. However, manufacturers of food grains, understand the need of homes across the country. Light and fluffy chapattis are what defines a good readymade flour. The touch and feel of the atta, if close to that of chakki grounded atta, would be the cherry on top for the traditional households. The readymade chakki atta did not disappoint and hence is an inevitable part of our lives today.

The Process:

Milling flour in traditional flour mills has its own charm. However, it has its drawbacks too.  The wheat milled in the flour mills are handpicked. Its only human to pick wrong sometimes. Before the wheat grains go into the mill, they are also checked for debris and impurities and sieved for filtering. Here again, at times, a little error may leave some unwanted particles in the gains. When these wheat grains are grounded, they come out milled and contaminated.

The chances of contamination in manufacturing units are completely negated. Leading atta manufacturers have automated systems in place, which is absolutely free of human manipulations. This is done to ensure flawless quality.

Preserving Texture:

The texture of the wheat that is mill grounded is very close to perfection. This is an aspect which is searched for by consumers, in the readymade packaged atta too. Leading and popular brands of readymade atta in India, understand this line of thought. Consequently, they have equipped their manufacturing units with stone grounders for mass production. The final product that reaches us, therefore has the texture of the chakki grounded atta.

Preserved Nutrition:

One might ask how does a manufacturing unit milled readymade atta, claim to have kept the nutritional value of their wheat flour intact?  The technical fact behind this rationale is that when wheat grains are grounded at high-speed steel rotators, the heat from the rotators destroys the nutritional value of the grains. This to an extent is true. However, some of the leading manufacturers have huge stone grinders in their manufacturing units, complete with an automatic chisel, to warrant that each batch of wheat grain is grounded uniformly. Stone grinders do not produce enough heat to destroy the nutrition of the grains, which keeps the wheat flour nourishing.

Makes Wholegrain Atta Edible:  

Wholegrain atta or the brown atta is the wheat flour with bran. Traditional milling does not ground the bran fine enough for consumption. When milled by readymade atta manufacturers, the commercial stone grinders, ground the bran smooth along with the grains. The outcome is finely grounded bran wholegrain wheat atta, which is nutritious and loaded with fiber too.

Pure Wheat Flour Atta:

If you have seen a tradition milling unit, you will realize that one mill caters to various kinds of grains that need grinding. Moreover, many prefer grinding other gains along with the wheat grains for a customized multigrain atta. These extra grain could be millets or soybeans. However before the next lot of wheat grains is grounded, the mill is not cleaned.  The concern, in this case, rises when someone might be allergic to some of the grains grounded before or if the previous batch of wheat grain was not sieved thoroughly, which would mean the next lot to be contaminated too.

This is not a concern with readymade wheat flour. Safe, nutritious and hygienically manufactured and packed, readymade wheat atta reaches you with all its goodness intact.

About Author:
Akriti Sharma, food blogger, avid food lover and passionate cuisine taster, have been writing on food for as long as she has been traveling.  As a cuisine expert, she loves exploring the history behind each cuisine. The richness of each cuisine she tastes and every street food she has loved, the good and the bad of this inevitable aspect of life, is a journey she follows with all her heart.