Now rotis, pongal added to Amma canteen menu
17 May 2013 6:16 AM IST
After a typical south indian fare of idly-sambar and curd rice, the ‘Amma’ canteens, which have proved to be a smashing hit in Chennai, will roll out rotis soon, accompanied by dal.
These budget canteens, which sell idlis for Re 1 a piece, will expand its menu further to include rotis at Rs 3 and pongal, lime rice and curry leaves rice for Rs 5 each. While pongal would be served in the mornings and the curry leaves rice and lemon rice in the afternoons, the rotis would be on the menu in the evenings.
Thrilled with the success of the 200 low-cost canteens in the city, chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced in the assembly on Wednesday that similar eateries would be started in nine more cities across the state. The canteens, which provided just breakfast and lunch earlier, would now extend its working hours to include an 'evening tiffin' as well, a traditional but popular eating habit. The rotis and dal are bound to cheer the large number of migrant workers, who make a beeline for these canteens.
‘Going by the tremendous response from people, we decided to extended these canteens to Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Salem, Tiruppur, Tuticorin, Vellore and Erode by month-end,’ said Jayalalithaa. The chief minister has reasons to cheer. The queues have only got longer at the Amma canteens with the poor and cost-conscious middle class discovering that they could have two meals here everyday and it would still not be a pinch on their purse. ‘Ten canteens will be inaugurated in each of these cities,’ Jayalalithaa said.
‘It is very exciting to serve a larger menu but also scary,’ said Shanthi, who works in an Amma Canteen in Alandur. ‘Now, 12 of us run a canteen and we are really stressed. We split up into two shifts of six workers each because we have children and houses to take care off too.’
The additional items on the menu would mean longer hours for these women, all members of self-help groups, who run all the canteens in the city.
The low budget canteen was inaugurated by Jayalalithaa in February this year. More than 2,400 women from self help groups (SHG) are involved in cooking, serving and managing the canteens, aimed at providing healthy food at reasonable price to those living in slums, daily labourers, drivers, load-men and migrant workers.
These budget canteens, which sell idlis for Re 1 a piece, will expand its menu further to include rotis at Rs 3 and pongal, lime rice and curry leaves rice for Rs 5 each. While pongal would be served in the mornings and the curry leaves rice and lemon rice in the afternoons, the rotis would be on the menu in the evenings.
Thrilled with the success of the 200 low-cost canteens in the city, chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced in the assembly on Wednesday that similar eateries would be started in nine more cities across the state. The canteens, which provided just breakfast and lunch earlier, would now extend its working hours to include an 'evening tiffin' as well, a traditional but popular eating habit. The rotis and dal are bound to cheer the large number of migrant workers, who make a beeline for these canteens.
‘Going by the tremendous response from people, we decided to extended these canteens to Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Salem, Tiruppur, Tuticorin, Vellore and Erode by month-end,’ said Jayalalithaa. The chief minister has reasons to cheer. The queues have only got longer at the Amma canteens with the poor and cost-conscious middle class discovering that they could have two meals here everyday and it would still not be a pinch on their purse. ‘Ten canteens will be inaugurated in each of these cities,’ Jayalalithaa said.
‘It is very exciting to serve a larger menu but also scary,’ said Shanthi, who works in an Amma Canteen in Alandur. ‘Now, 12 of us run a canteen and we are really stressed. We split up into two shifts of six workers each because we have children and houses to take care off too.’
The additional items on the menu would mean longer hours for these women, all members of self-help groups, who run all the canteens in the city.
The low budget canteen was inaugurated by Jayalalithaa in February this year. More than 2,400 women from self help groups (SHG) are involved in cooking, serving and managing the canteens, aimed at providing healthy food at reasonable price to those living in slums, daily labourers, drivers, load-men and migrant workers.
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