How to Make Rice Flour at Home: Chawal Ka Atta and Chawal Ki Roti
One kilo of rice gives you very nearly one kilo of flour, and all it takes to make rice flour at home is a wash, a full dry and a mixer in short bursts. The trick most people miss comes later: chawal ki roti cracks unless the dough is made with boiling water. This guide covers making chawal ka atta, fine vs coarse, how long it keeps, and the roti, pakora and firni jobs it does best.
Before you start
- Yield: 500 g rice gives about 480 g flour after sieving
- Best rice: ordinary white rice or broken basmati (tota); sella grinds grittier
- Grinding: mixer in 1-cup batches, 15 to 20 second bursts
- Keeps: white rice flour 2 to 3 months airtight; brown rice flour about 1 month, longer in the fridge
- Roti rule: equal volumes of boiling water and flour
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How to make rice flour at home, step by step
You can grind dry rice straight from the bag if it’s clean. Washing gives a whiter, softer flour and removes dust, but then the rice must be dried completely, because damp flour turns sour and mouldy in a closed jar within days.
- Pick over 500 g (about 2.5 cups) of rice for stones and husk. Broken rice is fine and costs less.
- Wash in 3 changes of water. Soak for 2 hours if you want the softest flour for roti; skip the soak for pakora or baking flour.
- Drain well, then spread in a thin layer on a clean cotton cloth indoors, under a fan. Leave 3 to 4 hours, turning once, until the grains feel dry to touch and don’t stick to your palm.
- Grind 1 cup at a time in a dry mixer jar, in 15 to 20 second bursts with a short rest between. Long runs heat the flour and can burn out the motor.
- Sift through the finest chhalni you own. Regrind the coarse bits once; what’s left makes firni or a crunchy coating.
- Spread the flour on a steel thali for 30 to 60 minutes to release any heat and remaining moisture. Only then fill the jar.
Soaked rice is never fully bone dry after a few hours, so treat that flour as a short-life batch: use it within a week, or keep it in the fridge. For a long-keeping jar, grind unwashed or quickly rinsed and sun-dried rice instead.
Mixer or chakki?
A home mixer handles up to a kilo in one sitting, with patience. The neighbourhood chakki is quicker and grinds finer, but it’s the same stone that grinds wheat all day, so the flour picks up gluten. That doesn’t matter to most families. It matters a great deal to anyone with coeliac disease, which is covered below.
Fine vs coarse rice flour: which for what?
| Grind | Feels like | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Fine | Silky, like cornflour | Chawal ki roti, baking, batter for pakoras |
| Medium | Soft, faintly sandy | Idiyappam, pithe, chilla, thickening curry |
| Coarse (ground rice) | Like fine suji | Firni, kheer, crunchy coating on fish or tikki |
Chawal ki roti that doesn’t crack
Rice flour has no gluten, the stretchy protein that lets wheat dough hold together. Cold water just makes a crumbly paste. Boiling water partly cooks the starch so it turns sticky and elastic, and that sticky starch does the job gluten does in atta. This is how chawal ki roti (akki roti, bhakri or pathiri in different kitchens) has been made for generations.
- In a pan, bring 1 cup (240 ml) water to a boil with a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil.
- Turn off the heat, tip in 1 cup (about 140 g) fine rice flour and stir fast with a spoon until no dry patches remain.
- Cover and leave 10 minutes. The steam finishes the job.
- While still warm, knead with wet palms for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth, like soft clay. Add a tablespoon of hot water if it cracks at the edges.
- Divide into 6 balls. Roll each between two sheets of butter paper or a cut plastic bag, dusting with rice flour, to about 2 mm.
- Cook on a hot tawa for 30 seconds, flip, cook another 30 seconds, then puff over an open flame or press gently with a cloth. Brush lightly with ghee if you like.
Each roti uses about 23 g of flour and gives roughly 80 to 90 kcal. Keep the cooked stack wrapped in a cloth, because rice roti dries and stiffens faster than wheat roti. It pairs well with thin curries, coconut or fish gravies, and a spicy chutney.
Rice flour in pakoras, kheer and firni
Crispier pakoras
Add 2 tablespoons of rice flour to every cup of besan. Without gluten, rice starch fries into a glassy, crisp shell that stays crunchy longer as the pakoras cool. The same trick works in tempura-style batters and on fried fish. For batter thickness and the rest of the besan details, see our besan cooking guide.
Kheer and firni
For firni, whisk 4 tablespoons of coarse rice flour into half a cup of cold milk until smooth, then pour it into 1 litre of simmering milk. Stir without stopping for 10 to 15 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon, add 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of elaichi, and set it in clay bowls. Cold milk first is the rule; flour poured into hot milk forms lumps instantly. A tablespoon of rice flour also thickens thin kheer that won’t set.
Rice flour for gluten-free cooking and coeliac disease
Rice flour is naturally gluten-free, but on its own it bakes into a dry, sandy crumb. For cakes, cookies and pancakes, use this simple home blend:
- 2 cups fine rice flour
- 1 cup cornflour, tapioca or arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon of isabgol husk per cup of blend as a binder, or one egg per cup
Rest gluten-free batter for 15 minutes before baking so the flour hydrates. It will never behave exactly like maida, and that’s fine.
For someone with coeliac disease, homemade rice flour ground from clean rice in a clean jar is safer than chakki flour or unlabelled loose flour, which may share machines and sacks with wheat. Wash and dry the mixer jar well before grinding, and keep a separate sieve. Our guide to gluten-free desi eating covers the rest of the kitchen.
Throw away rice flour that smells sour, musty or stale, shows grey or green specks, has formed damp clumps or has webbing from insects. Don’t taste it to decide. Brown rice flour turns rancid faster because the bran holds oil. Anyone with coeliac disease should never use chakki-ground or loose flour unless it’s certified gluten-free. Rice flour has less protein and fibre than whole wheat atta, so it’s not a health upgrade for people who can eat wheat, and people with diabetes should count chawal ki roti as rice, not as a lighter roti. Babies from 6 months can have smooth rice-flour porridge made with water or their usual milk, with nothing added (no salt, sugar or gur under 1 year).
How to store rice flour for a long time
Moisture and insects are the two enemies. Keep flour in a dry, airtight glass or steel jar in a cool cupboard away from the stove. White rice flour keeps about 2 to 3 months this way; in the fridge or freezer, in a sealed bag, closer to 6 months. Brown rice flour gets about a month in the cupboard, so freeze it. A couple of dried red chillies or tej patta in the jar are traditional; they may discourage insects a little but won’t save flour stored damp. Our weevil-proof storage guide covers the freezing trick that actually works.
Across South India, women draw kolam patterns on the doorstep every morning with rice flour, partly as a welcome and partly as food for ants and small birds. In Bengal, winter pithe for Poush Sankranti are made from fresh rice flour, and Kerala’s puttu and appam begin with it too. For skin, it’s a gentle scrub base; our rice water hair guide covers the cosmetic side.
Rice flour questions, answered
How do you make rice flour at home in a mixer?
Wash and fully dry the rice, then grind 1 cup at a time in 15 to 20 second bursts and sift through a fine chhalni. Regrind the coarse part once. Let the flour cool on a thali before filling the jar.
Why does my rice flour roti keep breaking?
The dough was made with cold or warm water, or it cooled before kneading. Use equal volumes of boiling water and flour, rest it covered for 10 minutes, and knead while it’s still warm. Roll between butter paper rather than on a board.
Can I use basmati rice to make rice flour?
Yes, and broken basmati is a cheap choice. It gives a lovely aroma but a slightly less smooth flour than short-grain rice. Avoid sella for fine flour; its parboiled grain grinds grittier.
How long does homemade rice flour last?
Flour from dry, unwashed rice lasts about 2 to 3 months in an airtight jar and up to about 6 months in the freezer. Flour from washed and soaked rice has more moisture, so use it within a week or keep it refrigerated.
Is rice flour healthier than wheat flour?
Not for most people. Whole wheat atta has roughly twice the protein and several times the fibre. Rice flour is the right swap for coeliac disease or wheat allergy, not a lighter option.
Is rice flour good for diabetes?
Rice flour digests fast and raises blood sugar much like white rice. Count a chawal ki roti as a rice portion, and eat it with daal, sabzi or eggs. Keep taking your medicines as prescribed.
What is the difference between rice flour and glutinous rice flour?
Glutinous rice flour is made from sticky rice and gives chewy dough for mochi or tang yuan. Despite the name it has no gluten. Ordinary rice flour gives crisp or soft results and can’t replace it one for one.
Can babies have rice flour porridge?
Yes, from 6 months, cooked smooth with water or the baby’s usual milk. Add nothing: no salt, sugar, gur or honey under 1 year. Rotate it with suji, oats, ragi and daal khichdi rather than serving rice every day.
Can I make rice flour without a mixer?
Yes. A traditional stone chakki, a small grain mill or a hand grinder works, and in the past rice was pounded in an okhli. Pounding gives coarse flour that suits firni and pithas.
More grain and flour guides live in Grains, Daals & Pulses.