Akshaya Patra’s third generation of kitchens, like the Hubli facility,
harness the potential Energy in gravity for the benefit of the cooking
process in what has been termed ‘gravity Flow mechanism’. Dal and
rice stored in silos on the 3rd floor flows down chutes to the 2nd Floor
to be cleaned before cooking. By the time the their day is over, Gopal
and his Co-workers will have cleaned approximately 15 to 16 tons of
rice, 3 to 3.5 tons of dal and 9 To 10 tons of vegetables. Masala preparation
and vegetable cutting also takes place on this Floor. From here, they
must be sent to the 1st floor where the actual cooking takes place in Steam heated cauldrons. Here too, the potential energy in gravity is
harnessed.
When Gopal lifts a steel lid approximately 20 inches in diameter,
he reveals how tons of rice, Dal and vegetables find their way to the
cauldrons below. The floor of the 2nd store is lined With two neat rows
of such lids. Each one covers a chute that leads directly to the Cauldrons.
One row is reserved specifically for the rice cauldrons the other set
for the dal, Vegetables and masala used to make sambar. An open passage
connects the two floors, Allowing staff to communicate and coordinate
their efforts. As the cooking in each cauldron Is completed, a signal
from the 1st floor, given either verbally or through a walkie-talkie, Alerts Gopal and his team upstairs to pour rice, dal or any other required
ingredients down The chutes to corresponding cauldrons.
On the 1st floor, as each cauldron of rice has finished cooking, a
team will be ready with Trolleys into which the steaming rice is emptied.
These then take the rice to the large open Chute that connects the 2nd
floor to the ground floor. Each sambar cauldron has a Connecting pipe
flowing into a main duct that also leads to the ground floor.
A team of members, ready with the requirements for each school, carefully
pack food into Steel containers to meet the corresponding route supervisor’s
request. Conveyor belts Running the length of the packing area lead
to the waiting food vans outside.
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