This and the per carp of wheat can be cooked and eaten by themselves. The can be also made into chapattis or cakes. It is possible that rice chapattis may be more easily digestible than whole rice and in this form a lesser quantity may result in full satisfaction. We are in the habit of dipping each morsel of chapatti in vegetable or dal gravy before eating. The result is that most people swallow their food without proper mastication.
Mastication is an important step in the process of digestion, especially that of starch.
Digestion of starch begins on its coming into contact with saliva in the mouth. Mastication ensures a thorough mixing of food with saliva. Therefore, starchy food should be eaten in a relatively dry form, which results in a greater flow of saliva and also necessitates their thorough mastication. After the starch supplying cereals come the protein supplying pulses-beans, lentils etc. Almost everybody seems to think that pulses are essential constituent of diet.