Commuters travelling in long-distance trains originating from Chennai Central and Egmore can now sample a taste of what Indian Army soldiers eat in high altitude areas like Leh.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Thursday launched a food kiosk to sell ready-to-eat products made by the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) that comes under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The food packets will be sold near the food courts at the two stations and are priced below Rs. 50.
On Thursday, they were sold for Rs. 25 as part of an inaugural discount.
IRCTC officials said the food is cooked in special pouches, a method originally devised in the United States. It is heated at 140 degree Celcius, packed and sealed under pressure. Thus, the food has a shelf life of six months, they said, and added that during this period, refrigeration was not necessary. The food packets are made in Mysore. The DFRL had developed the ‘retort pouch processed foods’ technology and the Ministries of Railways and Defence had entered into an agreement for transfer of this technology for manufacture by IRCTC.
Spoilt for choice
Passengers can choose from vegetable and chicken briyani, sambhar, tamarind and lemon rice and a combination of rajma and jeera rice, apart from wheat upma. Hot water has to be added and this is supplied at the kiosks that sell the sachets.
The ration that Army soldiers stationed in places like Leh in Jammu and Kashmir includes similar ready-to-eat food pouches manufactured by the DRFL, officials said, and added that Southern Railway has so far been sanctioned 6,000 sachets as samples. Passenger acceptance, preference and their feedback would be taken into account before it is expanded, officials said.
