Department of Home Science, PSPS Government P.G. College for Women Gandhi Nagar, on Thursday organized “Creative cooking competition” to celebrate National Nutrition week.The theme of the competition was millet based nutritious recipes.
Today millets are garnering the much deserved attention across India because of their nutritional value. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his talk in Mann Ki Baat emphasized the craze for the coarse grains (millets) which are also called as super foods. He said just like our culture, a lot of diversity is found in millets like Jawar, Bajra, Ragi ,Kuttu, Sawan, kangini, cheena, kodu etc.
India is the largest producer of millets in the world hence the responsibility of making this initiative a success also rests on the shoulder of Indians. Together we all have to make it as a mass movement, and also increase the awareness of millets among the people of the country.
Millets have many benefits along with reducing obesity, hypertension and heart related diseases.Since they are not fussy about soil and water, they are a major source of energy and protein for more than a billion people in arid and semi arid regions.
The programme was conducted under the patronship of Principal Prof. Minu Mahajan and able guidance of HOD Dr. Irvinder Kour. The programme witnessed enormous response from students. The participants were judged by Dr. Sujata Slathia, HOD Economics, Dr. Anuradha Gandotra, HOD Food Science and Technology and Dr. Renu Anand, HOD Mathematics.
Around 20 students participated in the competition and displayed food items in an artistic and aesthetic style. Jowar Muthiya prepared by Haspreet kour of Bsc sem 2nd, Ragi Appe prepared by Navleen Kour of Bsc Hsc sem 4th and Sama vada prepared by Nitika charak of Bsc Hsc sem 2nd were judged Ist, 2nd and 3rd. Consolation prize was bagged by Manisha Patti of BA sem 4th who prepared Bajra chilla.
The competition was successfully conducted by the organizing team Dr. Anjali Bhat, Prof. Neelam Bhagat, Dr. Ramandeep Kour, Dr. Neelima Gupta and Prof. Shivani Sawhney. Principal of the college, Prof. Minu Mahajan acknowledged the efforts of all the participants and appealed to join hands to bring the underutilized and one of the oldest traditional food grains “millets” into lime light by exploring uncountable therapeutic and health benefits.
The event has provided a platform for the students to foster their creativity and decision making skills and helped them to explore their hidden talents and discover new dishes.