Western tadka to traditional delicacies

Zaheerabad district in Telangana, which is famously know for the ancient temple of Lord Shiva, called ‘Jharasangam’, can also be listed for strong and independent women who work hard for livelihood. Gavni Suvarna comes from the town and she strives to take care of her family and make an impact on what she does in the society.

With azeal to work for betterment of her family and a desire to be self-reliant, she started to make tasty snacks out of organic jowar aata.

She relates, “Zaheerabad is a town where you do not and cannot find jobs. So, we, a group of women decided to form a group and do something for a living. When we were trying to find out solutions for what can be done, we approached ‘Deccan Development Society’ (DDS) that is at Pastapur. They happened to encourage us and helped us by training in making snacks out of the organic food grains.”

Having zero education as a child and wanting to achieve something in life,Suvarana strived a lot since her childhood. With the help of a society member, Satish, she completed her class 10 and then started working on her cooking skills, which she is good at.

“I was very much interested to cook and so, I got trained and helped others.”About the different kinds of snacks that they make, she shares, “We learnt 24 food varieties made from jowar aata, which included jonnapongalu, korrakhichidi, jonnamurukulu, jonnaboondi, jonnasangi and few other raagi snacks as well.”
They have also mastered the art of making cakes and cupcakes out of jowar aata to attract children to organic and healthy grains.

After learning to cook, Suvarna who wanted to make a living out of her new-found skill opened a store, “We started by making around 6,000 rupees which made me feel very happy. Slowly, we started picking up and started exhibiting it in various places.We are a team of six women. We also receive orders in bulk and then start working on the orders. We deliver our orders with the help of a mobile van that is provided to us by the society.”

It is not just the making of snacks; they are involved in growing of organic crops as well through DDS. “We grow our own crops in the land that the society provided us,” she adds.

“Making food has become an easy task after learning it. We manage to complete our orders in time. In addition to finding time for work, I also make sure that I give importance to my family, and they also happen to be supportive about the work that I do,” Suvarna states.