Atta

Flour at Metromart:

Atta is the flour most Bangladeshi kitchens get through fastest — roti at breakfast, paratha at the weekend, and something rolled out most evenings in between. Metromart stocks it alongside the two flours people usually buy with it, from the brands already in most kitchens: ACI, Sunshine, Farmland and Akij Essential.

Atta is wholemeal wheat flour, and it's what roti and chapati are made from. Milled with the bran retained, it produces a soft dough that rolls thin and puffs properly on a hot tawa. This is the flour a household buys by the kilo.

Brown atta keeps more of the bran and germ than standard atta does, which gives it a darker colour, a slightly nuttier flavour and more fibre. The dough is a little firmer and the roti comes out denser. Plenty of households have switched to it; others keep both and use brown for everyday and regular atta when they want a softer roti.

Maida is refined white flour, with the bran and germ removed entirely. Different flour, different job — luchi, cake, pastry, naan, and the flakier kinds of paratha. It isn't a substitute for atta in a roti, and atta isn't a substitute for maida in a cake.

Suji is semolina, coarser than either, made from a harder wheat. It's what you want for suji halwa, upma, suji cake, and as a coating for anything you want crisp when fried.

What flour does Metromart stock?

Metromart stocks atta and brown atta for everyday roti, along with maida for luchi and baking and suji for halwa and coatings. Brands include ACI, Sunshine, Farmland and Akij Essential, in 1kg, 2kg and 5kg packs, delivered across Bangladesh.
Atta is the flour most households get through fastest — roti at breakfast, something rolled out most evenings, and a bag that always seems to run low at the wrong moment.

What's the difference between atta and maida?

Atta is wholemeal wheat flour, milled with the bran retained, which is what makes it right for roti and chapati. Maida is refined white flour with the bran and germ removed. They aren't interchangeable — maida roti goes stiff and pale, and atta in a cake makes it heavy.
The rule of thumb: atta for anything rolled thin and cooked on a tawa, maida for anything that needs to be soft, light or layered.

What is brown atta, and how is it different?

Brown atta keeps more of the bran and germ than standard atta, so it's darker, slightly nuttier and higher in fibre. The dough is a little firmer and the roti comes out denser. It costs a few taka more per kilo across every brand stocked here.
Whether it suits you is largely taste. Plenty of households keep both — brown for everyday, regular atta when they want a softer roti.
For any dietary decision, work from the nutrition panel on the pack and from a doctor or dietitian rather than from a product page.

How can you tell if flour has gone off?

Smell it. Fresh atta smells faintly of wheat and little else; flour that's turned smells musty or sour. Clumping that won't break up, any webbing, or visible insects all mean it should be thrown out rather than sieved and used.

Which brand should you buy?

All four stocked here are widely used and the differences are small — mostly texture and how much water the dough takes. Farmland is generally the cheapest per kilo among the white attas; the brown attas sit slightly higher across every brand.

Buying 1kg of two brands once and settling on whichever rolls better is more useful than any comparison written down.

Storing flour in this climate: 
 

Humidity is the real enemy. Transfer flour out of its paper bag into an airtight container as soon as it arrives — a sealed bag or box, not a loosely folded packet. Keep it somewhere cool and dry, away from the stove.
If you're buying a 5kg pack, split it into two or three containers rather than opening the same one repeatedly. Every opening lets in moist air.

A few bay leaves in the container is the traditional deterrent against insects, and it works well enough that it's worth doing. If you want certainty, freezing flour for two days before storing kills anything already in it.

Physical outlets

Metromart operates physical stores alongside the online shop. If you'd rather see something before buying, or need it the same hour, the outlets page lists locations. Browse our outlets now.