Flour is a common ingredient in many foods, including breads, desserts and noodles. It’s also often used as a thickener in sauces and soups. Grain-based flours are powders produced by reducing grains to small particle sizes. They are used primarily for making breads, cookies, cakes, pastries and other baked goods. In South India it is used for making Puttu, Idiyappam, Appam etc. Grain flours are commercially-available in two main forms: Whole flours which contain the grain's endosperm, germ and bran fractions.