Aloo-puri on Sundays,noodles,macaroni,south Indian fare like idli-sambhar and a host of other mouth-watering dishes Tiffin providers are no longer restricting themselves to simple dal roti. Rather,with the aim of catering to the tastes of a wide spectrum of people,variety has been added to the menu. In the last few years,there has been a boom in tiffin service providers in the city,with the prices ranging between Rs 30 and Rs 35 a meal. Earlier,only simple meals of pulses,vegetables and chapatis used to be provided. Most of the tiffin providers run the business from their houses. Those with less number of clients cook the food themselves while those that have expanded a lot have hired cooks. Almost all students who are staying as paying guests or on rent prefer having their meals from these tiffin providers. It is not just about taste when it comes to the food in tiffins. Siddarth Jain,a paying guest who lives in in Sector 36,gets special food without onion and garlic. I have had a constant tiffin service for the last two years. The food tastes so good that I have it even if I am not hungry,he said. Manish,a tiffin service provider in Sector 15,has been running the business for three years. We cook the food in the kitchen at home but I have hired cooks. Since the time I started this business,there has been a tremendous increase in the number of people who want to have our food, he said. Manish delivers food to 125 people a day,including paying guests and PGI doctors. The tiffin providers are adding variety to the food,depending on the demand from the clientele. Noodles are especially in demand among students. Vijay Batra,a resident of sector 32,has been in this business for 14 years now. I started with seven-eight children and now Im serving to nearly 150 people a day. I have hired cooks and also developed a special kitchen for this purpose, she said. She cooks on demand and asks the students about their preferences. Says IAS aspirant Neha: We used to go out to affordable places during meal time but that food cannot be consumed every day as it is very spicy. The tiffin system saves time,is economical and tastes just like home-made food.
