For 70-year-old Miniyamma and her two daughters, the nation-wide COVID-19 lockdown from March 25 has been an unexpected blow.
The three women run an eatery at Vaniputhur near TN Palayam in Erode district. Opened over five decades ago, the eatery is the only source of income for Miniyamma’s family and is a go-to place for several workers in and around the village for breakfast or dinner.
The two-room eatery is known for the fluffy parottas that Miniyamma makes. It also serves idli, dosa, lunch, and tea. “We used to sell about 250 parottas a day before the lockdown. Now it is just 50 a day,” she says. The parottas come with vegetable gravy and are priced at ₹10 a piece.
“I start work at 4 a.m. and first make tea and other items. I start preparing the dough for parottas at 6 a.m. and these are sold till 10.30 a.m. Parotta sales starts again at 3 p.m. and goes on till 10 p.m.,” Miniyamma says.
Since the eatery is located on the Sathyamangalam - Athani Road, a large number of workers employed in construction and farm activities and travellers stop for food at the eatery or take parcels. “We used to sell about 30 parcels a day apart from serving 20 to 30 customers at the eatery. Now, there are almost no parcel orders,” she says.
“The eatery was opened by my husband after our marriage and he was making parottas. Since employing workers will add to the costs, I learnt to make parottas and continue doing it for more than 50 years now,” she says.
Even after their marriage, her daughters Vijayalakshmi (52) and Santhi (43), who live in the same area, continue to help their mother in running the hotel.
The taste and quality of food remains the same and is like home food, says Murugan, a regular customer to the hotel.
