Idlipreneur vouches for Chettinad idli

Chettinad cuisine, especially the non-vegetarian fare, has caught on pretty well among food lovers across the world. Long known for the idli-sambar food routine, to the extent of it being stereotyped as its sole vehicle of fame, the Tamil society has come up with various innovations to consolidate the brand value and exploit it commercially in its favour , rather well.

With home food competing fiercely with hotel and mess varieties all over, it is not surprising that enterprising women in Chennai have woken up to banking upon the low-cost, yet high return food item, the idli. Says Kaveri, who has morphed from being a casual idli maker of the Chettinad variety to a businessperson of repute: ‘Our staple food is surely idli, which appeals to every generation, and both male and female genders love it.

Still, the soft kind of idli that we wish to have is not available owing to various reasons, the right kind of raw material mix being one prominent reason.’ Ever the quick learner, Kaveri decided to put into practice the cooking tips she picked up from her days in her hometown Karaikudi, which had made her the butt of jokes among her friends who used to point out that if not anything else, she could making a living cooking idlis.

Not only did it happen the way her associates had pointed out, from a casual beginning, Kaveri has moved to regular supplies to leading corporates apart from parties in the neighbourhood and in friends’ homes. Her role has since morphed from a businessperson to that of a trainer, who coaches aspiring housewives how to cook, soft, fluffy Chettinad idlis.

Given the tight budgets in which middle-class homes operate, Kaveri is a messiah of sorts as she announces that her kind of food product can be made with a low investment of a mere Rs 100. She also adds as an incentive, teaching her students five different varieties of Chettinad preparations and asserts confidently: ‘The profit margin is as high as 50 per cent in this business’.

By K Naresh Kumar