If you’ve grown up in a South Asian household, you already know the drill. There’s never just one bag of flour in the kitchen. There’s the big one your mum uses every single day for rotis. There’s the white one that comes out when someone’s making samosas or naan. And then there’s the yellowish one that smells faintly of chickpeas and somehow ends up in everything from pakoras to face packs.
But if you didn’t grow up around these flours — or you’re just starting to cook more Indian food in your UK kitchen — the whole thing can feel a bit confusing. They all look like flour. They all come in similar bags. So what’s actually the difference, and which ones do you genuinely need?
Let me break it down the simple way.
Atta is whole wheat flour, but before you think it’s the same as the wholemeal flour from Sainsbury’s — it’s not. Indian atta is ground much finer, almost silky to the touch, which is exactly why it makes soft, pliable rotis instead of dense, crumbly ones.
This is the flour that gets used every single day in most Indian homes. You knead it into dough, roll it out, slap it on a hot tawa, and in two minutes you’ve got a fresh chapati puffing up on the flame. It goes into parathas, phulkas, puris — basically anything that involves flatbread.
Nutritionally, it’s the sensible one. All the fibre and nutrients from the wheat bran are still there, so it keeps you full longer and doesn’t mess with your blood sugar the way refined flour does. If you’re cooking Indian food even twice a week, you need atta. Full stop. Get a big bag because you’ll go through it faster than you think.
Right, so maida is basically refined white flour. Think of it as India’s version of plain flour — bright white, super smooth, and completely stripped of all the healthy bits like bran and germ.
Health-wise, it’s not great. Low fibre, spikes your blood sugar, not much going on nutritionally. And yet… some of the best Indian foods absolutely depend on it. That crispy, shattering samosa shell? Maida. Fluffy naan from your favourite takeaway? Maida. Light, puffy bhatura that balloons up when it hits the oil? You guessed it.
The thing is, certain textures just don’t happen with whole wheat flour. Atta is too dense and heavy for recipes that need lift, flakiness, or crunch. So instead of pretending maida doesn’t exist, just be honest about what it is — a treat ingredient. Keep a small bag for when you’re making something special, and don’t feel guilty about it. Life’s too short for sad samosas.
Besan is chickpea flour, made from ground chana dal, and honestly it doesn’t get enough credit. It’s naturally gluten-free, ridiculously high in protein compared to wheat flours, and it works in so many different ways that it’s almost unfair.
That crispy golden batter on your onion bhajis? Besan. The soft, spongy dhokla your Gujarati friend keeps raving about? Besan. A quick savoury pancake for dinner when you can’t be bothered to cook properly? Besan chilla — literally takes five minutes, tastes incredible, and is packed with protein. Mix it into yoghurt with some turmeric and spices, simmer it for a bit, and you’ve got kadhi — one of the most underrated comfort foods in Indian cooking.
It’s also brilliant as a thickener for curries, a coating for fried snacks, and a binding agent for vegetable kebabs. And yes, generations of South Asian grandmothers have been using it as a face scrub too. The flour genuinely does everything.
You don’t need to pick one. You need all three, just in different amounts.
Big bag of atta — that’s your everyday flour. Small bag of maida — for weekends when you’re feeling ambitious with naan or samosas. Medium bag of besan — for everything in between.
Between the three of them, you’ve got about 90% of Indian cooking covered. They’re cheap, they last ages in a dry cupboard, and once you’ve got them sorted, you’ll stop trying to substitute with plain flour and wondering why nothing tastes quite right.
Flour quality matters more than most people realise. A freshly milled, good-quality atta makes noticeably better rotis than a dusty bag that’s been sitting on a shelf for months. Same goes for besan — fresh besan has this lovely earthy smell that you just don’t get from old stock.
If you want reliable brands that South Asian families have trusted for years, SunShoppers stocks a solid range of atta, maida, besan, and specialty flours — all delivered across the UK with free shipping on orders over £50.
