Delicious smells of vadas and bondas being fried welcome us to Nalini’s Academy on Chittoor Road. Women from various Kudumbashree units (each comprising five women) in and around the city are busy making these snacks. While one set fries vadas , the other mills around the gas stove straining to watch. In another corner, a group gets the cutlet mix ready, while the readied snacks are being arranged in an adjacent room. It is ‘graduation’ day for these women.
These women belong to various Kudumbashree units in Njarakkal, Mulavukad and Kanjoor. It is the culmination of a 15-day cookery course which, they say, has helped them immensely. Some run small catering or snack-making business from their homes and for them this course is ‘skills enhancement’. The subject of the course is ‘ethnic snacks’ – vada , cutlet, bonda , laddu , jalebi , chips, potato wafers, mixture, pakkavada and the like. And teaching them is Nalini Verma who has been, for the last 15 years, working with various NGOs including Kudumbashree in training women in cookery, catering, sewing etc.
Apart from her work with NGOs and self-help groups Nalini runs a cookery school, Cinnamon, from her home in Panampilly Nagar where she teaches not only Indian but also foreign tourists.
Vimalalayam at Kacheripady and Food and Craft Institute, Kalamasserry, are the two other institutions in the city that train Kudumbashree units, says Tanny Thomas, co-ordinator of Kudumbashree’s Ernakulam activities. Some of the other institutes are situated in Perumbavoor and Thrissur.
“The culinary skills of the women, who join cookery courses as part of this programme, need to be fine-tuned. They are not skilled enough to start a commercial project, this is where these institutes come in,” she says.
The numerous Kudumbashree cafés and canteens bear witness to the efficacy of these institutions. They have been chosen on the basis of certain criteria which include the course structure, the duration of the course and feasibility. An accreditation process is in place to vet these institutions; Kudumbashree pays the fees for these courses. The skill training courses are many, but cookery is among the sought after courses. The progress is monitored by micro enterprises consultants (MECs) appointed by Kudumbashree. Only on completion of the course will they be eligible for the subsidised loan which will help them set up businesses.
Jasmine Ali, an MEC, is at Nalini’s Academy to test the ‘students’ and assess them. Based on her report and Nalini’s feedback, the women will get certificates ‘qualifying’ them. Jasmine says, “Women can stay at home and they see it as something they already know and are comfortable with so it is basically an extension of what they already do,” she adds.
The course at Vimalalayam, usually, runs for 20 days. Snacks, pickles, biriyani, welcome drink, and even everyday dishes such as a thoran are taught. “We teach 45- 47 items. We teach the students how to work in the concept of a balanced diet when they plan menus,” says Sister Gracy Joseph, DHM Vimalalayam, and co-ordinator of the Home Science programme and of training Kudumbashree units.
Nalini says of her students, “They ‘know’ the recipes. But often they use too many ingredients raising production costs. I teach them how to be cost-effective and the proportion of ingredients. I find that they add garlic and ginger or onions or spices to recipes randomly.”
Sr. Gracy agrees. “The method of cooking, before the women undergo the course, is random. For instance, some women use shallots for thoran , which doesn’t need it. Low cost, tasty and healthy is our motto.”
The timings of the classes vary – at Nalini’s Academy it is a flexible 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and at Vimalalayam the timings are ‘very flexible’, “sometimes we schedule classes at 11 a.m. or even 1 p.m. so that we can accommodate the students,” says Sr. Gracy.
The assessment, by an MEC, of newly acquired cookery skills has two parts - ‘theory’ and ‘practical’. Theory is the recipe and how well they have learnt the processes and the practical test is cooking.
Naseema Jamal from Kanjoor is at Nalini’s Academy for the course with four of her friends. She runs a snack business at Kanjoor but is looking to extend their menu. “I know neiappam , nice pathiri, kayapola and the like. But we wanted to learn more. Things like pakkavada , chips, cutlet…this course has helped us.”
Kudumbashree Mission invites these units to participate in trade fairs as a means of encouragement and confidence building, says Jasmine.
The training imparted, according to Sr. Gracy, empowers women making them confident to try out new things. “There is a group in Kadavanthara which started a snack vending business and they are doing very well. They were able to increase their monthly repayment of the loan from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 16,000 on a loan of Rs. 3 lakh. It is such an impressive achievement for those women and so encouraging for us,” says Sr. Gracy with pride.
