In 2019, after a major health wake-up call, Lalit was advised to rethink the way he ate. He began looking for foods that could become part of everyday life, rather than another temporary diet trend.

During that search, a dietitian of Indian origin practising abroad recommended a grain he had barely heard of before: bulgur.

The family ordered a packet online. It arrived from France, unfamiliar at first, and raised an immediate question: how exactly do you cook this?

An online search led them to Turkish chef Refika Birgül. They tried one recipe, then another, and soon bulgur became something the family genuinely looked forward to eating. It was comforting, versatile and easy to work into everyday meals. The children loved it too.

So they kept ordering more.

Over time, another question began to take shape: why was something this versatile so difficult to find, grown and made in India?

That was when Lalit’s farming instincts took over.

He began researching bulgur and discovered that it was made from durum wheat, processed using traditional methods practised across Mediterranean kitchens for generations. The next question was obvious: could the wheat be grown locally?

The search for seeds began.

After approaching agricultural institutions, the family eventually gained access to a small batch of viable durum wheat seeds suitable for cultivation in Haryana. But when the seeds arrived, most had already been damaged by weevils. Only a few remained usable.

They planted them anyway.

Whatever survived became the beginning of Farmili’s bulgur journey.

Over the following seasons, the seeds were multiplied, and the work moved from growing the crop to understanding how to make the grain. There was experimentation with processing methods, grain textures and preparation, alongside learning about the traditional craft of bulgur-making.

But the goal was never simply to recreate an imported product. It was to make bulgur feel at home in Indian kitchens.

That meant thinking about how Indian families actually cook: one-pot meals, savoury breakfasts, lighter dinners and familiar dishes that bring comfort without demanding a completely new way of eating.

Gradually, bulgur began finding its place in the family’s everyday cooking. It no longer felt like an unfamiliar imported food, but an ingredient with possibilities of its own.

Today, Farmili grows durum wheat in India and makes bulgur through a process shaped by farming experience, experimentation and an understanding of traditional bulgur-making. Available in three grain sizes — coarse, medium and fine — it offers different textures for different dishes and cooking preferences.

The grain draws on a tradition that spans Mediterranean kitchens, while its cultivation and processing at Farmili reflect a distinctly Indian journey.

What began with one imported packet became a decision to grow the grain ourselves and make it more accessible to Indian homes.

Because sometimes, the foods that become part of our lives begin with something simple: a meal we enjoy so much that we want to know where it comes from, and whether we can grow it ourselves.