The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Adding zing to mid-day meal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Adding zing to mid-day meal

Staff Reporter

College students come up with new recipes at competition

— PHOTO: S.R.Raghunathan

INTERESTING OPTIONS: Participants at the Cookery competition for mid-day meal recipe explain the nutritive value of their meal to the judges at Queen Mary’s College in Chennai recently.

CHENNAI: What is the perfect recipe for a tasty, healthy and cheap mid-day school meal?

Over 100 students of home science and nutrition from colleges across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry came up with suggestions for this at a cookery competition held at the Department of Home Science in Queen Mary’s College (QMC) here recently.

The event was conducted by the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of Avinashilingam University for Women, Coimbatore, as part of a mid-day meal scheme review project sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology. “The children are tired of eating the same old sambar saadam and egg or banana for lunch,” said Chandra Venkatasubramanian, reader and additional head of the department at QMC.

“Hence, the experiment with new dishes… After all, the idea is to attract more children to school.”

The recipes on display ranged from mixed rice with generous amounts of pulses and egg kuruma to plain rice, vegetable pulav and boiled egg.

Judges for the competition said the criteria for making the meal was that it should supply 450 calories of energy and 12 grams of protein and cost not more than Rs.5 for a meal per child.

Nutrition and culinary expert Mallika Badrinath was one of the judges. Another judge V. Anuradha, a lecturer from Avinashilingam University, said that even catering students preparing for a career in hotel management had shown up at the event. “But the problem is they have used ingredients such as ghee, which are too expensive for the mid-day meal scheme,” she said.

However, cost cutting does not necessarily mean compromising on quality. Ms. Chandra had proved it through her own recipe on display. With wheat flour, horsegram powder and methi leaves, she made slim chapattis and spicy beetroot paste and fried cabbage for side dish.

Similar recipe competitions are being held across the country in collaboration with nutrition experts from various universities. The best entry from each zone will be awarded Rs.4,000. Entries from the public will also be considered.

Those interested may contact Avinashilingam University for Women, Mettupalayam Road, Coimbatore 641 043. Phone: 091(422)2440241, 91(422)2435550.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu