CHENNAI:
It's not every wedding that dishes out its guests a brief bio of the
food they're served. But then, not every wedding lays out an organic
spread. If you're at a reception catered by 25-year-old Raja Murugan, you'll be introduced to each item as the server comes around with it. The dosas will be pointed out for the jowar they're made of; the grain will be identified as bamboo rice, and the kodo millet in the bisibele bath will be spoken for. By the way, that's foxtail millet in your pongal.
Murugan steers a one-man catering outfit called NallaSoaru (Good Food) that only works with organic ingredients - grain, millets, fruit and greens. He set up the business two-and-a-half years ago, as an extension of his association with the organic farming collective, Nalla Keerai (Good Greens). "We're out to promote healthy living," says Murugan.
There's a growing interest in living right, as the number of organic stores, both online and off, suggest. While Chennai's interest in the organic way hasn't yet scaled the high bar of a city's commitment to clean cultivation - an all-organic restaurant - the demand for it is gradually growing beyond the domestic dinner plate. People who care about their own health and that of the environment, and buy into the principles of chemical-free cultivation, are making their dietary vote known to friends and family by throwing organic parties and 'health' luncheons and even supplementing wedding and anniversary reception menus with ingredients that have never known a synthetic supplement.
Samir Singla, who runs the catering company Uncle Sam's Kitchen with wife Guneet, says they provide organic buffets on order at least twice a month. "People inquire about it all the time, but it's only the ones who are truly convinced of the virtues of organic food who serve it at their parties," says Samir (aka Uncle Sam). It's not its provenance alone that sets this food apart, but also the manner in which it is cooked. "You want the taste of the organic ingredients to come through, so you cook in ways that preserve flavour - grilled and steamed instead of deep-fried," he says. His offerings include broken wheat and fresh orange custard, millet and mushroom pilaf, soya pancakes with fresh herb salsa and roasted grain and dates granola with banana and yoghurt. Sam doesn't charge his clients a premium even though he may be paying his suppliers a surcharge because he wants to create business opportunities for them.
Murugan, who charges between Rs 100 and Rs 200 a head, points out that unlike ordinary catering an organic offering depends on what the local fields throw up. It would defeat the organic purpose to ship food in from afar. Murugan now receives about four to five commissions a month, including NGO lunches, house parties, IT gatherings and weddings.
At a mass meal organised this January by the environmental non-profit, Poovulagim Nambargil (Friends of the Earth), Murugan catered to a crowd of 1,350 on Loyola College grounds. "We conducted a workshop on the importance of eco-living and followed it with a paid dinner," says Dr G Sivaraman, an activist. "The entire menu of 16 dishes comprised of millets and organic vegetables. I was apprehensive about its reception, but people even tried to replicate those dishes at home," he says, adding that recipes were also handed out at the dinner.
Whether it's a humble house party or a super-sized shindig, a repeat order will materialise only if the customer is convinced of the goods. Sunil Varghese, director of The Dune, an eco resort en route to Puducherry, believes it may be one of the reasons people return to the resort to host a small wedding or a corporate affair. The food offered here is almost entirely organic, sourced from the hotel's farms in Kodaikanal and Puducherry. "Due to our limited resources, we wouldn't cater to a crowd over 200," says Verghese, adding Christian Dior's global launch of their perfume Escale a Pondicherry four years ago was an all-organic affair at The Dune.
As Shrikant Ram, owner of Eco Nut Health Food Shop, an organic store in Besant Nagar, observes, it's not just the moneyed who are setting up organic suppers. "I've lately witnessed a wider cross-section of clients shopping organic," he says. "There is a growing awareness of the merits of organic food, aided by the media." With more acreage added to the organic green pool in Tamil Nadu, perhaps the time for organic to large-scale is finally ripe.
Murugan steers a one-man catering outfit called NallaSoaru (Good Food) that only works with organic ingredients - grain, millets, fruit and greens. He set up the business two-and-a-half years ago, as an extension of his association with the organic farming collective, Nalla Keerai (Good Greens). "We're out to promote healthy living," says Murugan.
There's a growing interest in living right, as the number of organic stores, both online and off, suggest. While Chennai's interest in the organic way hasn't yet scaled the high bar of a city's commitment to clean cultivation - an all-organic restaurant - the demand for it is gradually growing beyond the domestic dinner plate. People who care about their own health and that of the environment, and buy into the principles of chemical-free cultivation, are making their dietary vote known to friends and family by throwing organic parties and 'health' luncheons and even supplementing wedding and anniversary reception menus with ingredients that have never known a synthetic supplement.
Samir Singla, who runs the catering company Uncle Sam's Kitchen with wife Guneet, says they provide organic buffets on order at least twice a month. "People inquire about it all the time, but it's only the ones who are truly convinced of the virtues of organic food who serve it at their parties," says Samir (aka Uncle Sam). It's not its provenance alone that sets this food apart, but also the manner in which it is cooked. "You want the taste of the organic ingredients to come through, so you cook in ways that preserve flavour - grilled and steamed instead of deep-fried," he says. His offerings include broken wheat and fresh orange custard, millet and mushroom pilaf, soya pancakes with fresh herb salsa and roasted grain and dates granola with banana and yoghurt. Sam doesn't charge his clients a premium even though he may be paying his suppliers a surcharge because he wants to create business opportunities for them.
Murugan, who charges between Rs 100 and Rs 200 a head, points out that unlike ordinary catering an organic offering depends on what the local fields throw up. It would defeat the organic purpose to ship food in from afar. Murugan now receives about four to five commissions a month, including NGO lunches, house parties, IT gatherings and weddings.
At a mass meal organised this January by the environmental non-profit, Poovulagim Nambargil (Friends of the Earth), Murugan catered to a crowd of 1,350 on Loyola College grounds. "We conducted a workshop on the importance of eco-living and followed it with a paid dinner," says Dr G Sivaraman, an activist. "The entire menu of 16 dishes comprised of millets and organic vegetables. I was apprehensive about its reception, but people even tried to replicate those dishes at home," he says, adding that recipes were also handed out at the dinner.
Whether it's a humble house party or a super-sized shindig, a repeat order will materialise only if the customer is convinced of the goods. Sunil Varghese, director of The Dune, an eco resort en route to Puducherry, believes it may be one of the reasons people return to the resort to host a small wedding or a corporate affair. The food offered here is almost entirely organic, sourced from the hotel's farms in Kodaikanal and Puducherry. "Due to our limited resources, we wouldn't cater to a crowd over 200," says Verghese, adding Christian Dior's global launch of their perfume Escale a Pondicherry four years ago was an all-organic affair at The Dune.
As Shrikant Ram, owner of Eco Nut Health Food Shop, an organic store in Besant Nagar, observes, it's not just the moneyed who are setting up organic suppers. "I've lately witnessed a wider cross-section of clients shopping organic," he says. "There is a growing awareness of the merits of organic food, aided by the media." With more acreage added to the organic green pool in Tamil Nadu, perhaps the time for organic to large-scale is finally ripe.
