When health and taste go hand in hand

Not all tasty foods are healthy. Likewise, not all healthy foods can fill your taste buds to the fullest. But Hima Manikandan's "Chappathi Casa" comes with a difference, taking on all healthy aspects without compromising on the taste of food.

"Flavoured Chappathis", a unique concept which hasn't even emerged in the mind of Hima at the time when she resigned her well-paid job in Australia to follow her dream of starting a business enterprise in Kerala. "When I came back to my hometown Koliyoor in Thiruvanathapuram in the year 2018 the only hope I had was that Kerala is one among the places where women entrepreneurs were encouraged most", says Hima. It was her strong passion that led her to give wings to the dream project called 'Chappathi Casa".

Starting from wheat flour to masalas, an inevitable component of Indian cuisines, is homemade only, which is one among the reasons her Chappathis and curries appears at the top of preference list of foodies in Thiruvananthapuram. Chappathis were prepared by using a variety of flavours which includes tomato, potato, beetroot, coriander leaf, carrot etc. Chappathi payasam and chips were other items which were newly experimented and introduced by Hima to the tastes of Kerala.

When a serving of curries was in a great need she had made use of the culinary experiences she had through the part-time job at a restaurant while she was doing her MBA in Australia. "It is from a Chinese friend I learned the very distinctive idea of baking chicken inside clay which I brought here and made it popular as"Mannil chuttedutha chicken" says Hima. She does the same process with duck and fish too by filling masalas inside it.

In a place like Thiruvananthapuram, where every nook and corner occupied with restaurants and hotels, the selling of chapattis alone initially brought more challenges on her way. But with sheer dedication and belief in herself, she managed to start the first unit in Koliyoor and thereafter with large profit she also succeeded in opening her second unit in Thycaud. The outlet in Thycaud is now moved to Manorama Road in east thampannor which started its functioning from November 1. A journey from a small takeaway counter to an outlet with all dining facilities was not only a success story of a woman entrepreneur but also a passionate food maker.