Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD)

Saristanagar in Nalanda district, is a mahadalit hamlet. The residents belong largely to the Manjhi community. They do not own land and are reliant on casual labour for their income. Most families migrate in search of work. In order to start a more regular conversation with the women and girls, we have begun literacy classes. 15 women have enrolled so far. They say that learning to write their names will be useful for them. On our part, we hope these classes will provide us with a chance to engage in more meaningful ways.

Today’s cooking competition was a joy with the ingredients being simple, locally available (well mostly) and a whole load of imagination being used. The star was the delicious chutney with no oil and no salt and peanuts and moringa leaves added to the mango sambhar. Just wonderful. Always interesting to see what Seenikuppam and JJ Nagar have to offer. Here are the winners. First place
Ragi kali with ragi flour water and salt
Chutney with coconut, peanuts, raw mango, onion, chilli (NO oil and NO salt)
Dal with muringa and peanut

Second place
Ragi puttu- ragi flour : double steamed and coconut with brown sugar
Carrot date shake with coconut milk

Third place
Ragi idli and ragi dosa with raw mango sambar.