Tamil Nadu's 80-year-old Granny sells Idly for Rs.1 for heart melting reason!

Getting anything at Rs.1 is highly impossible. While we do get candies, we cannot find any decent food for the basic amount.

In Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, an 80-year-old woman in Vadivelampalayam sells 1 idli for Rs.1 with complimentary sambhar and chutney. The lady, K Kamalathal, started selling idlis 30 years ago.

“I started selling idlis 30 years ago in Vadivelampalayam. I belong to a farming family. Every day, my family members would work on the farm leaving me behind. I was alone, bored and wished to start making idlis for the locals. Now I have loyal patrons in daily wage laborers who stop by to have a healthy breakfast at a nominal price,” Kamalathal told TNIE.

“As I was raised in a joint family, cooking for a large number of people was not difficult for me. I wash and soak the ingredients the previous day in a vessel and grind them in the evening. It takes around four hours to grind six kilos of rice and urad dal for the idli batter. I let it ferment overnight and use it the next morning. I prepare fresh batter every day,” she said.

“The vessel can make 37 idlis in one round. I sell around 1,000 idlis every day. Ten years ago, one idli was priced 50 paise and I increased it to 1 rupee a few years back,” she explains.

“Most of the people residing near Vadivelampalayam come from a lower-middle-class background or are economically backward. They are all daily wage workers. In such a case, it is hard for them to pay Rs 15 or Rs 20 for a plate of idli every day for breakfast,” she said.

“In other hotels, they serve three or four idlis per plate and that’s not enough for their physical labor. So, I focus only on satisfying their hunger. Hence, I priced my idlis at 1 rupee. This will also help them save some money for their family. I get profits, but the margin is less,” she added. She earns upto Rs.200 per day. “Many approach me and ask me to hike the price. I tell them that I do this for the needy and hungry,” she said.