What are microgreens? The small greens moving into Bengaluru kitchens
18 October 2026 · Hasiro, Jakkur, Bengaluru
Walk into a Bengaluru kitchen today and you will find something that was not there five years ago: a small tray of living greens on the windowsill, or a clear box of delicate shoots in the fridge. Microgreens have quietly moved from restaurant garnish to everyday ingredient, and the city's kitchens are making room for them.
So what exactly are microgreens? They are young vegetable greens, harvested roughly 7 to 14 days after germination, when the first true leaves appear. They are not sprouts - sprouts are eaten seed, root and all within a few days, while microgreens grow in a medium and are cut above the root. And they are not baby greens either, which are harvested weeks later. They sit in between: small, tender, and intensely flavoured.
Why the sudden interest? Part of it is nutrition. Researchers at the University of Maryland found in a widely cited 2012 study that young microgreen leaves can carry several times the concentration of some vitamins and carotenoids found in the mature plant, though levels vary by variety. Part of it is flavour: a sunflower shoot tastes nutty, a radish microgreen is peppery, and a mustard shoot brings real heat. A handful changes a salad, a sandwich, or a bowl of curd rice.
Part of it is also practical. Bengaluru cooks are busy. Anything that adds freshness to a meal in seconds - no chopping, no cooking - earns its place in the fridge. Microgreens scatter over poha, upma, dosas and salads without changing how anyone cooks. They ask nothing of the cook and give back colour, crunch and a just-cut taste.
There is a catch, though: microgreens are fragile. They lose freshness within days, which is why the distance between the grower and the kitchen matters so much. Greens that travel hundreds of kilometres arrive tired. Greens cut the same morning, a few kilometres away, are a different ingredient altogether. That is the whole idea behind growing them right here in Jakkur - short distance, same-day harvest, and trays that keep growing until the day they are cut.
If you are new to them, start simple. Toss a handful into any salad with lime and salt. Pile them onto buttered toast with a little cheese. Stir them into raita. Use them the way you would use coriander, except the bunch is still alive when it reaches you.
We are Hasiro - the word means green in Kannada - and we grow microgreens in Jakkur, Bengaluru, alongside our South Indian instant mixes. This blog is where we will share what we are growing, what we are cooking, and what we are learning as a small local food brand. More soon.