Chennai: 'Millet based dishes mostly preferred by those above 40'

by Argus News

Chennai, Sep 4: Even though raw and ready-to-cook millet packs occupy retail store shelves and specialty millet based restaurants are popping up, mostly the guests who are above 40 years go for millet dishes at star hotel restaurants, say hoteliers.

Star hotel chefs told IANS that after Covid-19 there is an increased focus on having healthy food among guests who are above 40 years of age.

"Guests who are above 40 years of age are now conscious about what they eat and they opt for healthy food. They are receptive to the idea of trying out millet dishes. After the first time, they go for such dishes," Jagadeesh Karuppaiah, Sous Chef, Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort & Spa, told IANS.

According to him, one has to explain the benefits of millets for people to try it out first.

Amongst the younger segment, those who are studying or are in the medical field go for millet items, while the young software professionals still go for the regular maida dishes, a couple of hoteliers told IANS.

"Only in Chennai and that too by people in the age group of 25-40 years, there is a reluctance to go for millet based dishes regularly," celebrity Chef Damu informed IANS.

Can the hoteliers just call the dishes made with millets by their generic names - say idli/dosa/biryani- without prefixing the millet name to make their guests try the item on the buffet?

Experts are divided over it.

"In order to make young people go for millet dishes, perhaps calling the dishes by their generic name without prefixing the millet name could be tried out," Damu said.

However, Prakash Jayadevan, General Manager of 167-room Trident Hotel which is part of the Oberoi Group here, differs about it.

"Guests may not appreciate that as there will be a huge expectation mismatch when they eat. For instance, the bite size would differ in the case of a basmati rice biryani as against a biryani made with a millet," Jayadevan said.

"Millets are super food. And why not brand it and give it a new name," he added.

Echoing the same view Karuppaiah said: "One has to prefix the millet name to the dish and also explain its health benefits."

As food is first evaluated with the eyes, people may skip a dish if it is not in the well known colour or form.

According to Damu, people living outside Chennai go for millet based items like Samai Pongal, Varagu Adai and others at restaurants.

Millet based restaurants like 'Coconut Shell', 'Millet Magic Meal' have come up in Tamil Nadu and also in other states.

"Apart from main dishes (idli, dosa, vada, poori, oothappam and others) made with millets including noodles and pasta we also make sweets and pastries with millets. We use full wheat flour for making the pastry sponge and not maida," S. Vignesh alias Chef Annamviky, one of the brains behind Coconut Shell, told IANS.

He said at the 30 cover Coconut Shell, one can get ragi choco banana cake, kodo millet walnut brownie and others.

Vignesh said he had spent considerable time with the tribals in Tamil Nadu to learn about millet dishes.
(IANS)

Jharkhand Tourist Drowns In Puri Sea

by Hemanta Pande

Puri, Sept 27: A 24-year-old man from Jharkhand drowned while taking bath in the sea in Puri, Odisha on Wednesday.

The deceased has been identified as Bishal Oram.

As per reports, around 21 tourists from Jharkhand including Bishal had come to the pilgrim town.

Bishal and his friends ventured out into the sea this afternoon. While bathing near sector 13 of the sea beach, Bishal drowned in the strong currents.

Lifeguards and Fire service personnel rescued the tourist and rushed him to the District Headquarters Hospital here where the doctors declared him “brought dead”.

The body will be handed over to his family members after autopsy, police said.

Read: Odisha News

Viral Video: Man's Cricket Dance Makes Netizens Laugh

by Manoj Jena

Watch: Viral Video Of Man's Cricket Dance Makes Netizens Laugh

New Delhi, Sept 27: The internet is filled with many things and the when it comes to hilarious dancing contents the internet is the library of it. Recently, the video of a man dancing in various cricket positions is getting viral on various social media platforms.

In the video, a middle-aged man can be seen dancing in a crowed, where he was performing fielding, batting and all the other roles through his hilarious dance style.

Watch Video Here:

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Mayank Hardiya (@themayankhardiya)

The crowd can be seen enjoying to the dance and cheers from the crowd were echoing the environemnt.
So, far the identity of the man is unknown and the viral video is said to be of Pakistan.

Also Read: 5-Year-Old Tripura Girl Donates Hair To Cancer Patient; Wins Internet

The video was shared on the official Instagram handle of themayankhardiya with the caption, "Cricket Dance". The video has garnered 921K views with attracting sarcastic comments as one user commented,"We are waiting for IPL dance" and another commented,"He has better dancing skills than Sunny Paji."

Watch the video and share your views.

Also Read: National News

No salary for Mukesh’s kids on the Reliance board, they will get only sitting fees

by Sisir Mishra

Mumbai, Sept 27: The three children of billionaire Mukesh Ambani who have been inducted onto the Reliance Industries’ board will not get salary from the company. They will only get a sitting fee for attending meetings of the board or the committee plus a commission on the company’s profit.

Ambani senior (66) has stopped taking salary from the company since 2020-21 fiscal year while other executive directors on the board including his cousins Nikhil and Hitel will get remunerations. Last month, Ambani had inducted his kids --- twins Akash, Isha (31) and Anant (28) in the Reliance board soon after had stints in different Reliance firms.

Reliance has now sent out a postal ballot to shareholders seeking a nod for their appointment as board of directors of the company.

Reliance has five broad verticals - the oil-to-chemical (O2C) business that houses the world's largest single-location refining complex and petrochemical plants, telecom and digital business, retail (both physical and online), new energy, and recently launched financial services.

Ambani first talked of a succession plan at the oil-to-telecom conglomerate in 2022, where he announced that each of his three children would head various divisions of the company (Akash to head telecom, Isha to head retail, and Anant to head new energy). He did not divulge the succession plan for Reliance's mainstay oil-to-chemicals or O2C business division.

Ambani owns 41.46 per cent of Reliance shares. As per the plan, Nita had resigned from the board

As part of the succession planning, Nita resigned as a director of Reliance but she has been made a permanent invitee to all board meetings - a status which none on the board enjoy - Mukesh Ambani and other directors need shareholders' nod for any extension beyond their current approved terms but she will continue on the board in perpetuity.

Mukesh Ambani has been on the board of Reliance since 1977 and was elevated as chairman of the company after the death of his father and group patriarch Dhiburhai Ambani in July 2002.

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Chennai: 'Millet based dishes mostly preferred by those above 40'

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