CHENNAI; The whole of last year has been about re-evaluating, reconsidering and reiterating the importance of mindful eating with organic choices. The access to quality food was on top of the health priority list. This has led to many positive developments in consumption patterns; the chief of which has been a paradigm shift in the revival of traditional rice varieties among farmers and consumers.
Kudos to changemakers like Menaka, proprietor of Mannvasanai — a city-based organic store-cum-organisation in Kodambakkam. She’s been instrumental in educating first-timers about the significance of cooking with native varieties of rice all through the pandemic-induced lockdown.
A down-to-earth effort
The entrepreneur would have easily received inquiries from more than 10 customers over the phone every day. “A few varieties that were in demand during the lockdown were mapillai samba, thooyamalli and kichili samba. People who were earlier purchasing half a kilogram and one kilogram of rice started investing in bulk quantities and have made a complete switch to cooking with organic rice every day. I’ve been delivering rice to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Madurai, Puducherry and all parts of Chennai, besides exporting to Qatar, Oman and Malaysia,” says Menaka.
“The shop was open once the lockdown measures were relaxed for essentials. I was somehow able to procure rice from the farmers and distribute it to customers,” says Menaka who’s been single-handedly running the shop after the demise of her husband Thilakarajan in 2017. To ease the cooking process for beginners, Menaka has also been taking online cooking classes during the lockdown. “Mannvasanai offers value-added products such as soup, batter, porridge, ready-tomake options and vadaam using these rice varieties, based on orders. People can either buy from us and cook or attend the classes.
That apart, we also have coldpressed oils, millets, pulses and traditional cooking vessels,” explains Menaka. Witnessing a drastic growth in the consumption of rice in the recent years takes Menaka back to her early days when the whole idea of unpolished rice was foreign to people. “My husband and I have been researching rice varieties and been in this line of work for the past 12 years. People would be hesitant to buy even half a kilogram of rice back then.
They wouldn’t know how to cook it; so, they would return the rice to us. My husband was hell-bent on taking the pride of forgotten rice varieties to the public, so we had to find a way. I took part in television programmes to speak about these options and also demonstrated cooking each variety,” narrates Menaka who, over the years, has collaborated with farmers from the delta districts such as Thiruvallur, Theni, Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai and more.
One rice at a time
She owes her success to her idol and inspiration Nel Jayaraman, a farmer and consumer activist who has
preserved 174 varieties of rice and handheld Menaka through the process of conservation. “Until a few centuries back, there were more than 1,50,000 varieties of rice in India. Majority of those were lost with time; after the green revolution, farmers started investing in short-term crops. The native rice varieties are not so profitable and hence less opted for cultivation.
Each crop may take 180-230 days to grow. There’s so much that needs to be sacrificed from the farmer’s end. The rice needs to be treated like a newborn baby and must remain inside the husk for three months for it to absorb the necessary nutrients.
So, you can imagine the time invested,” elaborates Menaka, whose husband managed to get hold of 100 varieties of rice through research and collaborations with farmers. She recently received an Assist World Record in November 2017 for cooking with 100 varieties of rice in a single day as a tribute to him. Mannvasanai, currently, has 10-12 varieties of rice available for purchase. “I advise people to make these rice varieties as part of their daily life and not consume them like medicines for the time being,” suggests Menaka.
Her website is a store-house of information on the health properties of each rice variety. “This is just to spread awareness among people. Kavuni is rich in oxidants, mappillai samba strengthens your nerves, kattuyanam is good for diabetes, vadan samba induces sleep and kullakar is useful for weight reduction. We have medicinal properties in everyday food. There’s a reason why our ancestors were much healthier than the present generation.
I’m happy that a few farmers are working towards bringing back rice varieties such as sona masuri and kalanamak. There’s a long road ahead,” says Menaka, who will be starting her next batch of online classes soon. She also plans to bring back her famous kavuni rice ice cream (with panam kalkandu) in February. “This is my husband’s vision and I hope to fulfil it,” says Menaka.
WHAT’S IN STORE
Mappillai samba Kattuyanam Kullakar Kavuni Rajamudi Milagu Samba Pisini Poongar
For details, call: 9884166772 Or visit: No 7/7 Padmanabhan street, Kodambakkam, Chennai 24 (near
Kodambakkam railway station)
AS SIMPLE AS IT GETS
“We supply only to local markets. We don’t use preservatives; so, its shelf life is only 3 months. Upon order, we will take only two to three days to source it from farmers. Then, the rice will be cleaned, dried
and couriered or locals can pick it up from the shop,” says Menaka.