Kerala’s Minister for General Education, V. Sivankutty, announced a major revision to the state’s school midday meal menu based on a scientific report submitted by an expert committee. The updated menu emphasizes nutritional balance, inclusion of local produce, and variety to ensure students receive healthy and culturally appropriate meals.
Scientific Approach to Menu Planning
According to the press release issued today by Minister Sivankutty, the changes have been introduced following a detailed review by a specially appointed expert committee. The committee was tasked with examining the current meal offerings and suggesting improvements based on nutritional and dietary requirements for schoolchildren.
Rotation of Vegetables: When making changes to the existing meal plan, vegetables previously used in curries will be replaced with alternative, seasonal vegetables to maintain nutritional variety.
Inclusion of Pulses and Legumes: The revised guidelines stress that if leafy or other basic vegetables are used in curries, they must be paired with pulses or legumes such as dal or beans to ensure protein intake.
Fortified Rice Special Dishes: Once a week, dishes made using fortified rice like vegetable fried rice, lemon rice, or vegetable biryani will be served. These dishes must be accompanied by suitable vegetable-based curries like kurma or mixed curry.
Nutritious Chutneys: Chutneys made using ingredients like mint, ginger, gooseberry, or raw mango are being considered for inclusion to enhance taste and provide additional health benefits.
Promotion of Traditional Grains
Highlighting the health benefits of millets, the minister stated that dishes using ragi (finger millet) will be served once a week. These include:
Ragi kozhukatta (sweet dumplings with jaggery and coconut)
Ela ada (steamed rice cakes in banana leaves)
Sweetened aval (flattened rice with jaggery and coconut)
Carrot payasam (carrot dessert made with milk)
Ragi payasam (sweet porridge with ragi and milk)
Sample Daily Menu Items (Illustrative):
Rice with cabbage thoran and sambar
Rice with dal curry and spinach thoran
Rice with chickpea masala and ivy gourd thoran
Rice with olan and yam thoran
Rice with soy curry and carrot thoran
Rice with vegetable kurma and beetroot thoran
Rice with theeyal and green gram thoran
Rice with erissery and horse gram thoran
Rice with dal curry and drumstick leaf thoran
Rice with sambar and egg avial
Rice with pineapple pulissery and mixed vegetable curry
Rice with paneer curry and beans thoran
Rice with jackfruit seed puzhukku and amaranth thoran
Rice with cucumber pachadi and red cowpea thoran
Rice with okra mappas and chickpea masala
Rice with coconut chutney and vegetable kurma
Rice/Egg Fried Rice with vegetable molly
Rice/Carrot Rice with pepper egg roast
Rice with dal kurma and avial
Rice/Lemon Rice with chickpea masala
