Ever tried replacing the all-purpose flour with finger millet powder (ragi) while baking a cake or explored the option of preparing biscuits using sorghum (jowar) or experimented dishing out khichdi made of foxtail millet ( korralu )?
Experimenting with a whole range of healthy options, Sabala, an NGO that promotes millet cultivation and consumption along with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) trained more than 60 self-help group members in millet-based bakery products and instant food mixes as part of the Livelihood and Enterprise Development Programme at the Sabala training centre in Kothavalasa.
The 15-day training held at the centre introduced an army of women to think beyond preparing ‘ambali’, gruel made of finger millet flour, for breakfast and incorporate assorted millets into the daily menu.
The focus is on deriving the maximum nutritional value by consuming assorted millets, says K. Saraswathi, secretary of Sabala. Most people do not know that millets can be used for preparing wholesome snack, breakfast and sweets apart from converting them into ready-to-consume products, she adds. With experts and nutritionists from the Agricultural Research Station and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra taking the lead in imparting value-added culinary skills, participants from the Kothavalasa, L. Kota and Vepada mandals of Vizianagaram plan to take the skills learnt to a new level.
Bakery unit planned
“We plan to form into a five-member group and set up a bakery unit in our town. As it is difficult to pool investment for the unit all alone, we thought teaming up would help in developing cost-effective measures and maximising returns,” says L. Nukaratnam, a farmer and SHG member who attended the session.
The participants felt the platform had helped them to bring variations in daily cooking. “Most of us know only to make very limited dishes using millets. But the cooking workshop introduced us to 30 varieties of millet-based products,” exults G. Lakshmi, a self-help group leader.
Moving beyond imparting skills, the organisers also emphasised on getting access to finance through bank linkage.
“This apart, we are also figuring out ways to provide millet-based menu to government schools in tribal areas by tying up with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency,” adds Ms. Saraswathi.
Sabala plans to impart similar hands-on training to self-help group members in Parvathipuram and other areas.
