Navkaushalya the institute starting with an aim to educate the girls from economically and socially weak families and make them self independent. Taking a leap further the institute starts the programme on Cooking and Catering in view of highest opportunities in the field. A.M. Tiwari MD GSFC and Chairperson of Navrachana Education society inaugurated the all new cooking lab which will help in educating the girls enrolled in the programme.The idea to start the course in the institute is to train them cook good nutritious food and also to make them entrepreneurial ready. “We found through conversations with the girls currently being trained at NavKaushalya that they have little or no concept of cooking and absolutely no idea of what a balanced or nutritional meal is. Therefore, the girls who opted for Cr‘eche Management were given a short course in cooking with practical training and practice. This understanding of the ground facts and seeing the enthusiasm of all the girls to learn how to cook we feel that a proper programme can be designed to teach them to cook not only for their families but also as an entrepreneurial opportunity,” said Tejal Amin, Chairperson, Navrachana Education Society.
Not being able to cook tasty and fresh food at home drives families towards unhealthy street/fast food that is loaded with taste enhancers but has little food value. The girls are to be trained in such a way that they can cook good food learn the basics of nutrition and preserve food items. “ We need to teach the girls to learn the art of cooking, nutrition and preserving food items which can help them further in their life. For this to be achieved a novel curriculum has been designed that stresses practical hands-on learning through the availability of a simple but effective kitchen labs, a curriculum that evolves with real time feedback and truly committed teachers who could be house wives, professional cooks, nutrition experts,” said Amin.
The Cooking/Kitchen Lab is established in Vadodara at the NavKaushalya campus.
The size and equipping of the lab is based on the curriculum and will ensure that hands on practice is available to every student. The Cooking Lab is partially funded by the CSR Authority of Gujarat for one year. We expect three major outcomes. 1.
Learn to cook and serve healthy, hygienic and tasty vegetarian food. 2. Learn to cook efficiently and economically. 3 Have the confidence and expertise to become entrepreneurs. We see great opportunity in both Self employment as well as in hospitality sector employment. We see opportunities in providing affordable and healthy street food. We see opportunities in home delivery or catering for events.
The curriculum is designed to expose the students not only to the art of cooking but also to know how to purchase, make correct estimates of ingredients required. Understand nutritious values of ingredients, maintain recipes. Check for adulteration, maintain hygiene etc. Cooking will ‘be taught in a way that they also understand the fundamentals of cooking and can become experimental and innovative cooks and are not limited to a particular cuisine.’
NavKaushalya, Savitaben Amin Institute for Girls and Women. Established in 2015, is the part of the Navrachana Education Society’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, and the Society’s payback to the city, NavKaushalya aims at offering a ray of hope to girls and women from economically and socially disadvantaged families through training in vocational courses that would ensure livelihood and independence.