Veg fried rice, biryani and egg delights! Kerala school midday meal menu gets a tasty upgrade from August

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has revised the school midday meal menu once again, this time with a generous addition of egg-based dishes. The updated list includes egg avial, egg roast, egg fried rice and pepper egg roast. However, despite the inclusion of these new dishes, the government has not increased the budget allocation for the meal scheme.

According to the government’s new guidelines, the revised menu will be implemented starting August 1. Speaking to Mathrubhumi, Education Minister V Sivankutty said the situation in schools would be assessed after Onam, and a decision on funding would be taken based on that. He also noted that discussions would be held with Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh to ensure continued support and participation from local bodies.

The new menu is designed to curb children's inclination towards fast food, while also stimulating their taste buds with nutritious meals. Schools are instructed to display the weekly menu on notice boards, and to maintain a “taste register” where students can record their feedback on the meals.

In the sample 20-day menu distributed to schools, vegetable stew stands out as a special item. It also recommends including microgreens once or twice a month. Millets should be steamed and served, and in line with Central Government guidelines, sugar content should be significantly reduced, with only a trace amount of refined sugar allowed in dishes.

Despite the appeal of the updated menu, many headteachers have raised concerns that the current midday meal fund is insufficient to implement the changes. However, Director of Public Instruction S Shanavas clarified that all listed dishes can be prepared within the existing budget.

What’s on the menu?

• Once a week: One among vegetable fried rice, lemon rice, veg biryani, tomato rice or coconut rice
• Served with: A side of vegetable curry or kurma, along with chutney made from mint, ginger, gooseberry or raw mango. 
• Traditional Kerala dishes: In addition to legumes, meals should feature local ingredients such as spinach, moringa (drumstick leaves), jackfruit seeds and banana flower.
• Curries and sides to continue: Sambar, avial, dal curry, pineapple pulissery, paneer, vendakka (Okra) mappas, soybean, Beetroot and Cucumber dishes.

Special Items

• Ragi balls (Finger millet balls)
• Ragi dumplings (finger millet dumplings)
• Ela ada (steamed rice pancakes in banana leaf)
• Avil kuthirthathu (sweetened flattened rice)
• Payasam (kheer) made with ragi or other millets