Wondering what to pack for lunch this week? Why not try a palak and corn brown bread toasted sandwich. Chop the palak finely and boil it with sweet corn in just enough water. Add butter, salt to taste and pepper or chilli powder. Spread on bread slices and toast. It stays good when packed in silver foil.
This is just one recipe that Viji Ganesh of Nam KaimaNam!, a group on Facebook has suggested as part of their week-long theme on lunch boxes. The group with over 200 women members has been dishing out recipes over the past one year that it has been active. They have come up with at least 14 different fillings for sandwiches.
Janaki Lakshmi, a Carnatic vocalist and cooking aficionado, who started the group a year ago, explains that every week, they have a different theme and members, who live across the country, bring in a lot of variety to the vegetarian recipes. “We have had themes that include millets, sambar, vitamins, seasonal vegetables and cool things for summer. We have fun sharing our recipes, accidents and doubts. It was because of my friend Viji Ganesh that I started the group. From just a handful of friends, we have now grown to 200 members,” she says.
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Radha Vasudevan, group administrator and the correspondent of a city school, says that it has been fun learning recipes. “Earlier, for festivals, we used to make the standard offerings but now, we have a rich variety. We learn from our experiences and thanks to the group, many of us have even started baking.” The group recently met to celebrate their first anniversary. On that day, they learnt to bake bread, learnt about millets and tasted a variety of dishes.
Though there are other groups on Facebook that discuss food, those like Radha Vasudevan like the way this group works. “I am a member of at least four other groups. But I like this one the most since we don’t deviate much from the topic,” she says.