CHENNAI: In the tranquil surroundings of the Hanu Reddy Residencies, Poes Garden, Mann Vasanai, a cookery workshop by Chef Shri Bala, an expert in traditional food research, in association with the organisation Eat, Pray & Love, is all set to be held tomorrow.
With the UN declaring 2023 as The International Year of Millets, the focus on South Indian traditional food is gaining popularity. “With a motive of bringing millets and ancient rice back to our plates, we’re conducting Mann Vasanai. In this workshop, one can learn how to include these into daily diet,” says Yogita Uchil, food evangelist and founder of Eat, Pray & Love, a group working towards helping culinary professionals and foodies exhibit their talents.
With quinoa and avocados enticing more than half of the world’s fitness-conscious population, Yogita says, “Our millets and ancient rice varieties have an increased level of nutrient content than western food. They are also economically friendly and locally available making them a healthy and easily accessible alternative.”
This initiative of re-introducing traditional food is also supported by Shiny Surendran, an internationally recognised sports nutritionist and the first Indian to be acclaimed with the Graduate Diploma in Sports Nutrition by the International Olympic Committee. Shiny too works towards promoting millets among her clients and patients. “The workshop is set to introducing, a healthy and traditional eating habit by going back to the basics, where we came from,” says Yogita. The need to create awareness and propagate millets not only benefits us but, in a larger picture, benefits farmers and their businesses too, she points out.
The menu includes kada muttai kozhukattai, nandu cutlet, kattuyanam rice-flavoured noodles, millet pathir peni, and many other traditional food varieties. Registration along with a full course dinner costs `2,250 and is open to anyone who is interested in re-introducing the traditional food of our ancestors.