[world-vedic] Scientists develop instant pulav, kheer

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Scientists develop instant pulav, kheer for Siachen troops

www.deccan.com

 

New Delhi: If Indian soldiers serving on the icy heights of the Siachen

glacier develop a sudden craving for traditional rice dishes like khichidi

or pulav, scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation

have the perfect recipe.

The DRDO’s Mysore-based Defence Food Research Laboratory has come up with a

wide variety of lightweight combat ration packs for soldiers serving at high

altitudes.

 

The ration packs, specially formulated to suit the finicky Indian palate,

are based on cereals, pulses, vegetables, meat and eggs and even include

preserved breads like chapatis and parathas.

 

The Defence Food Research Laboratory developed the special rations as it is

virtually impossible for soldiers to cook elaborate Indian meals in the

hostile surroundings on the Siachen glacier.

 

The soldiers serve in posts situated at heights ranging between 18,000 and

21,000 feet, with temperatures sometimes dipping as low as minus 50 degrees

Celsius. “Fuel doesn’t burn very efficiently at these altitudes and

pre-cooked rations are often the only option for soldiers,” said an army

officer.

 

The ration packs contain food that either needs to be reconstituted with hot

water or is ready-to-eat.The defence scientists have so far developed

ready-to-eat versions of traditional dishes from all over the country,

reflecting the diverse food habits of the soldiers.

 

The menu ranges from instant vegetable pulav and instant omlettes to sweet

dishes like instant halwa and instant vermicelli kheer.Indian soldiers have

been engaged in a stand-off with Pakistani troops on Siachen — often

described as the world’s highest and coldest battlefield — since the

mid-eighties.

 

The extreme weather conditions on the glacier are often responsible for more

casualties than hostile exchanges of gunfire, with soldiers from both sides

succumbing to illnesses like high altitude pulmonary oedema.

 

Appetite is also reduced at high altitudes due to lack of oxygen and the

defence scientists have tried to compensate by ensuring that high-calorie

foods are included in the ration packs.

 

A full meal component ration pack, which includes provisions for breakfast,

lunch, dinner and snacks, delivers 4,100 calories. The DRDO has also

developed special pouches for packaging the rations and collapsible stoves

with fuel tablets for heating up the food.

 

The DRDO has found a ready take for its ration packs in the army, which now

buys 3 lakh such packs worth Rs 25 million every year.During the Kargil

conflict last year, the DRDO supplied 50,000 ready-to-eat meal packs and

another 50,000 survival ration packs to Indian troops deployed along the LoC

 

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