Maida, all-purpose flour or plain flour is extracted from the endosperm (the starchy white part) of a wheat grain. The bran is separated from the germ and endosperm which is then refined by passing through a sieve to prepare refined flour.
The flour is chemically treated(bleached) to give it a super white and smooth texture. Bleached flour has less protein than unbleached, and is best for pie crusts, cookies, quick bread, pancakes and waffles. Unbleached flour is ideal for yeast bread, Danish pastry, puff pastry, strudel, Yorkshire pudding, éclairs, cream puffs and popovers.
Foods made of Maida are not considered to be particularly healthy, and health-conscious people try to replace it with whole wheat flour wherever possible. Yet, there are some sweets, bakery products and bread that call for the use of maida.
Refined flour dough is used to make Indian flatbreads like naan, kulcha and parathas. Though snacks made from Maida like Samosas, Momos, Panipuri, etc are very tempting and delicious, they are not quite healthy.