Kudumbashree food courts at T-20 venue: A lip-smacking success

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first international T20 match, which the city hosted, though delayed by rains was worth the wait. Food counters set up by Kudumbashree in the stadium made the wait a pleasant one with the lip smacking food items that were on the menu.

All the food counters which had been set up on both sides of gallery offered ethnic flavours of Kerala. The menu offered dishes like Malabari biriyani to Travancore delicacies. They made food for 15,000 people, their second major attempt after the National Games.

The self-help food courts opened at 3 pm. There were enough food items to choose from the menu of 130 delicacies. It included items like kappa and fish curry, special Kumarakom fish curry and biriyani from Malabar to Thiruvananthapuram styles. There’s nothing that goes together like a rainy evening and hot snacks. Snacks like ilayada, kumbilappam, kozhukkatta, kaipathiri and neypathiri sold like hot cakes.

“The rainy evening increased the demand for hot tea and snacks. Even though a delay in the start of the game and cutting short of overs badly affected the overall sales, particularly the main course, within an hour of opening we ran out of snacks,” said Shyju, the official coordinator.

No food court at a major venue in the state could afford to miss the traditional dessert, payasam. Kudumbashree food courts offered payasam varieties such as paalada, mulayari and prathaman.
“This is the first time all the major ethnic recipes of Kerala was brought under one umbrella. The food prepared was dished up in special containers in strict adherence to the green protocol,” said the hospitality and management coordinator Ajayan.  Twenty-three micro units of Kudumbashree hailing from different districts of the state offered their regional cuisines.
Out of the 40 counters, 32 were run by the members of Thiruvananthapuram unit.