The Nutritional Benefits of Indigenous Rice Varieties
Every few years, a new grain arrives on Indian shelves from somewhere else in the world and we receive it enthusiastically. For example, Quinoa from the Andes and Amaranth from Mexico. Essentially Brown rice which is the same grain as white rice but processed differently and rebranded as a health choice. People who have decided white rice is the enemy have largely replaced it with something imported, something with a "globally approved" label and something with a country of origin that is not this one.
It is a reasonable instinct. White rice, the polished, stripped, fortified version that most Indian households default to, is genuinely not doing as much nutritional work as people assume. The criticism is fair. The solution, however, has been aimed entirely in the wrong direction.
India has been growing rice for over five thousand years. In that time, farmers across Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam developed thousands of varieties of rice adapted to specific soils, climates, bodies, and needs. These varieties were not engineered. They were observed, selected, and refined over generations by farmers who noticed what worked. The nutritional outcomes embedded in those grains are the result of that process.
Most people reaching for quinoa in a supermarket have never heard of Laicha. Most people swapping to brown rice have never cooked Likitimachi. Most people convinced that rice is the problem have never eaten Sukhdas or Kullakar.
Here is what those grains actually contain, and what the research says about them.
Laicha: The Tribal Grain Behind an Anti-Cancer Rice Trial
Laicha is a traditional paddy variety grown by tribal farmers in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, in the Bastar region. Local tribal communities have long used it for a specific purpose: the grain gets its name from its traditional role in preventing a skin infection known locally as "Laicha disease," and it has also been part of customary practice around pregnancy, with tribal knowledge holding that pregnant women who eat cooked Laicha rice go on to have healthy deliveries. None of this was written down as pharmacology. It was observed, over generations, and passed on as food.
That traditional knowledge has since drawn scientific attention. Chhattisgarh's agriculture university used Laicha as the parent variety to develop a new rice line, informally called Sanjeevani, specifically to investigate its therapeutic potential, with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre's health division involved in validating the findings. In mouse model trials, researchers reported that cancer cells regressed after the animals were administered doses of the rice, and the immune-boosting properties of the variety were documented in a 2022 paper in the International Journal of the Royal Society of Biochemistry.
This sits within a broader body of research on pigmented and traditional rice more generally, which has linked the anthocyanins and phenolic compounds concentrated in the bran layer to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activity by neutralising the reactive oxygen species that drive both chronic inflammation and cellular damage. Laicha is a grain whose reputation started as tribal medicine and is now being examined as a genuine research subject, rather than the reverse.
Likitimachi: The Aromatic Grain That Out-Proteins Rice
Likitimachi is a short-grain aromatic rice from Odisha, a state that grows more than a hundred scented rice varieties of its own, distinct from and, by local reputation, more intensely fragrant than Basmati. It has traditionally been treated as a sacred grain, reserved for special occasions rather than daily cooking, in the way many aromatic Indian rices are set apart for festivals and rites rather than an everyday plate.
What makes Likitimachi notable nutritionally is unusual for a grain that is mostly carbohydrate. Independent lab testing across more than a hundred rice varieties, carried out for a heritage seed initiative, found Likitimachi to contain around 10 grams of protein per 100 grams, well above the 6 to 8 grams typical of most milled Indian rice. Rice is rarely anyone's protein source, which is exactly why a variety that closes even part of that gap matters for a rice-dependent diet. It does not match a legume or a lentil gram for gram, but as a staple grain eaten multiple times a day, a few extra grams of protein per meal accumulate in a way that a single high-protein food eaten occasionally cannot replicate.
Sukhdas: The Emperor's Rice That Kept Its Bran
Sukhdas comes from the Oudh region of Uttar Pradesh, the belt running from Kannauj to Gorakhpur. It is a white-grained, delicately scented rice with a documented royal history: it is recorded among the rice cultivars sourced for the imperial kitchen of Emperor Akbar, in the Ain-i-Akbari, the sixteenth-century administrative chronicle written by Abul Fazl. It was, in other words, a grain considered good enough for a Mughal court, long before "heritage grain" was a marketing term.
Sukhdas is traditionally grown for household consumption and eaten semi-milled or unpolished rather than heavily processed. This matters because fibre in rice sits almost entirely in the bran and aleurone layers that are stripped away during polishing, and studies comparing traditional, less-processed Indian rice to heavily milled commercial rice consistently find the traditional grain retains meaningfully more of that fibre. That fibre supports digestion and gut health, slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream, and contributes to satiety in a way stripped, polished grains cannot. For a grain that was never bred for scale and has always been eaten closer to its original state, that is not an accident of marketing. It is simply what happens when a grain is not polished within an inch of its nutritional life.
Kullakar: The Dwarf Grain With an Inverse Nutritional Profile
Kullakar is a short-grain variety from the Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu, historically cultivated in the Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts. The name refers to the short stature of the plant. What the plant lacks in height it makes up for comprehensively in nutritional content.
Kullakar has a documented glycemic index of 52.25, one of the lowest recorded for any traditionally grown Tamil Nadu rice variety. This figure comes from testing referenced by the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS), Chennai, alongside the Indian Food Composition Tables published by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), ICMR, Hyderabad.
The grain retains its reddish-brown bran layer through minimal processing, which means its iron, calcium, zinc, and antioxidant content arrive intact. Traditional Vaidyas (Ayurvedic practitioners) in Tamil Nadu recommended Kullakar specifically for people with metabolic imbalances, a category that maps closely onto what modern medicine classifies as insulin resistance and prediabetes. That recommendation was grounded in observable outcome, not theory.
Research published in Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science (2022) documented that Karuthakar Poha, a closely related variety within the Tamil Nadu pigmented rice tradition, recorded a GI of 52, with anthocyanins from the grain demonstrating significant inhibition of human pancreatic alpha-amylase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down starch into glucose. Inhibiting that enzyme slows glucose release. This is the same mechanism that several diabetes medications target pharmacologically and the grain was doing it naturally.
The Mineral Gap and What It Actually Costs
A study from the MSSRF, published in Agricultural Research (2020), documented measurable variation in iron and zinc content across traditional Indian rice genotypes, with indigenous varieties consistently outperforming commercial alternatives. The National Institute of Nutrition's Indian Food Composition Tables, widely used as a reference standard for nutritional research in India, confirm that polished commercial rice carries approximately 2 micrograms per gram of iron. Unsurprisingly, several indigenous varieties carry multiples of that.
Research from Kerala, published in Agricultural Science Digest (2026), found that traditional rice varieties from the state contained significantly higher iron than high-yielding commercial varieties across all samples tested. The zinc content also consistently exceeded that of commercial rice. The conclusion from the researchers was direct: promoting indigenous rice varieties offers a practical, culturally integrated response to iron and zinc deficiency in rice-growing populations.
This matters because iron and zinc deficiency are not abstract public health statistics. Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anaemia, which contributes to maternal mortality, reduced cognitive development in children, and diminished immunity in adults. Zinc deficiency impairs wound healing, immune response, and growth in children. These are outcomes that a daily staple grain, if it is the right grain, can meaningfully influence.
The Quinoa Comparison
Quinoa contains approximately 4.57 mg of iron per 100 grams (uncooked), a fibre content of around 2.8 grams, and a glycemic index of approximately 53. It is also imported, expensive relative to local grains, and has no relationship to Indian soil, climate, or culinary tradition.
Likitimachi carries close to 10 grams of protein per 100 grams. Kullakar has a GI of 52. Laicha is the subject of an active anti-cancer research programme grounded in generations of tribal use. Sukhdas was considered fit for a Mughal emperor's table centuries before quinoa reached an Indian supermarket shelf.
These are not nutritionally inferior alternatives to quinoa. In several measurable dimensions they are comparable or superior. The difference is not in the grain, it is in the global narrative surrounding these.
How to inculcate these grains into our diet
The nutritional case for indigenous rice is clear. The practical question that follows is how to bring them into a kitchen that is used to ponni or sona masoori.
Laicha can be cooked like a regular short-grain rice with no special equipment. Use a 1:2 water ratio and steam it as you would any daily rice, or use it in a simple khichdi where its firmer texture holds up well.
Likitimachi is best treated the way its own tradition treats it: soak for 2 to 3 hours before cooking, and reserve it for special meals rather than everyday cooking, in keeping with how it has always been eaten in Odisha. Its aroma comes through best in a plain steamed preparation with little else competing for attention.
Sukhdas cooks well as a light, everyday rice and does not need to be reserved for anything. Keep it semi-milled rather than heavily polished if you can source it that way, since that is where its fibre lives. It suits simple preparations, plain steamed rice, curd rice, or a light pulao, where its delicate aroma is the point.
Kullakar pairs well with coconut-based curries, curd, and mild gravies. Its low starch content means it holds its texture without going mushy. It can also be used to make dosa batter, producing a slightly nuttier, denser dosa with more flavour than regular rice.
None of these require a new appliance, a new technique, or a new vocabulary. They require a swap in what you keep in the kitchen. The nutrition follows from there.
References
Anjana, R.M. et al. (2023). ICMR-INDIAB-17: Metabolic non-communicable disease health report of India. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 11, 474–489. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(23)00119-5/fulltext
Chhattisgarh Agriculture University. Development of the "Sanjeevani" rice variety from Laicha parent stock; anti-cancer mouse model trial findings. International Journal of the Royal Society of Biochemistry (2022). Reported in Deccan Chronicle, "Chhattisgarh Agriculture University Granted IPR for Rice Variety with Anti-Cancer Properties." https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/chhattisgarh-agriculture-university-granted-ipr-for-rice-variety-with-anti-cancer-properties-1924756
Das, S. & Oudhia, P. (2000). Referenced in: The Genetic Basis and Nutritional Benefits of Pigmented Rice Grain. Frontiers in Genetics, 11:229. Naming and traditional use of Laicha rice. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00229/full
Good Food Movement. Feature on SOTE (Spirit of the Earth) rice testing initiative; Likitimachi protein content (10g/100g) from accredited lab testing across 100+ varieties. https://gfm.akshayakalpa.org/read/feature-article/the-woman-rice-warrior-of-tiruvarur
Spirit of the Earth / The Locavore. Sukhdas rice: cultivation in Oudh region, Uttar Pradesh; historical reference in the Ain-i-Akbari (Abul Fazl, c. 1590 AD) documenting its use in Emperor Akbar's imperial kitchen. https://thelocavore.in/2022/05/11/spirit-of-the-earth/
Grain Dimension, Nutrition and Nutraceutical Properties of Black and Red Varieties of Rice in India. Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science, Volume 8, Number 3, 2022. Glycemic index, resistant starch, and alpha-amylase inhibition data for pigmented Tamil Nadu rice varieties. https://www.foodandnutritionjournal.org/volume8number3/grain-dimension-nutrition-and-nutraceutical-properties-of-black-and-red-varieties-of-rice-in-india/
Maganti, S., Swaminathan, R., & Parida, A. (2020). Variation in Iron and Zinc Content in Traditional Rice Genotypes. Agricultural Research, 9, 316–328. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-019-00429-3
Agricultural Remedy for Nutritional Malady: Traditional Rice Varieties in Kerala. Agricultural Science Digest, 2026. Traditional rice varieties found to contain higher iron and zinc than high-yielding commercial varieties. https://arccjournals.com/journal/agricultural-science-digest/D-6453
Balasubramanian, A.V., Vijayalakshmi, K., et al. (2019). Traditional Rice Varieties of Tamil Nadu: A Sourcebook. Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS), Chennai. Referenced in Kullakar GI data. https://www.sempulam.com/product-page/kullakar-red-rice-boiled-unpolished
Longvah, T., Ananthan, R., Bhaskarachary, K., & Venkaiah, K. Indian Food Composition Tables. National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), ICMR, Hyderabad.
Shao, Y., Hu, Z., Yu, Y., Mou, R., Zhu, Z., & Beta, T. (2018). Phenolic acids, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, antioxidant activity, minerals and their correlations in non-pigmented, red, and black rice. Food Chemistry, 239, 733–741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.07.009
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21. Iron deficiency among women of reproductive age in India.
