The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the choice of healthier foods in India through observation of 250 consumers in a feast arranged with most of the millet-based food items, followed by a focus group study of nine selected consumers from the feast. Although much of the work about healthier food choices have been done in the western countries, their replication is not possible for the Indian consumers due to the differences in perception, culture, and consumption patterns. This paper attempts to highlight the importance of indigenous culture of a land in influencing one’s food choice. The findings of the qualitative study match with the Food as Well Being (FWB) dimensions proposed by Block et al., 2011. Food perception emerged as another important factor from this study and furthermore an extended model of FWB is proposed for the Indian consumers. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.