Low-cost eateries Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa opened in Chennai in February are turning out to be a foil to food inflation.
For less than Rs. 10, a person can have his or her stomach full and for less than Rs. 20, banish hunger for the entire day.
One can buy any amount — and even the rule that you cannot get the food packed is often sidestepped as the women manning the counters quickly dispose of a customer — even if they want to take their stuff away.
These subsidised kitchens serve piping-hot sambhar rice, thair chadam (curd rice), and idlis and sambhar, the staple diet of a resident of Tamil Nadu.
Shortly they would serve chapatis, pongal (khichdi) and lemon rice, said Jayalalithaa in the assembly on Tuesday.
Tucked inside a lane in upmarket Adyar is one such kitchen, perpetually crowded with customers, many with tiffin boxes and an assortment of vessels to take parcels of breakfast and lunch home. Inside the kitchens, which have a dining area, you have labourers rubbing shoulders with executives, gorging on sambhar rice (Rs. 5 per serving), thair chadam (Rs. 3 per serving) or idli and sambhar at Rs. 1 per idli).