Maida

Maida ( मैदा ) is milled, bleached and refined wheat flour. It is naturally or chemically bleached, to get rid of the yellowish colour pigment that is present in wheat. Maida is obtained after de husking wheat and hence has a lower fibre content than कणीक (wheat flour).

 Since maida is a refined product of wheat, meaning it is obtained after processing the wheat, it ends up being less nutritious than wheat flour. The less a grain or vegetable is processed, the more nutrients it retains.

Maida is used in a number of sweet and savoury recipes like Goad Puris and Shankarpale. It has a low gluten content resulting in crispy end products, unlike wheat flour which gives softer end products.An ideal example would be पोळी (chapati or Indian flat bread as you may know it) which is made of wheat flour. 

Though not a preferred healthy option, (with most of us giving in to a sedentary lifestyle added to the reluctance to exercise!), it is very difficult to rule out this one from our menu cards...So let us retain it in small, delicious quantities!