Jail special: Tomato curry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fans of prison ‘chapati’ had a different dish on Wednesday - tomato curry made of tomatoes cultivated on the Poojappura Central Prison compound. The tomatoes, which were harvested on Wednesday, had been cultivated in the prison from last January. There was a crop of 250 kg of tomatoes, a part of which the prison authorities used to make curry for the inmates.  “We used the major share of the tomatoes to make curry for the prison inmates and the rest was used to make curry which we sold along with the chapatis. Around 100 curries were sold out on Wednesday,” B Pradeep, Superintendent, Central Prison, told Express.  A packet of five chapatis and a tomato curry was sold for ` 20.  Apart from tomatoes, there was harvesting of amaranthus, bitter gourd, brinjal, beans etc on Wednesday. There were 100 bunches of amaranthus, which had a harvest last month also. They were also sold out through the counter in front of the prison which was opened for the sale of prison-made chapatis. The vegetables were planted on the prison compound by the Horticorp in January in grow bags. The step was aimed at making the prison self-sufficient in vegetables. These vegetables, along with those which the prison had been cultivating for the past few years, has almost made the prison self-sufficient in vegetables.  There was also another sacred function in the prison on Wednesday. The rope to raise the flag mast for Sree Padmanabha Temple’s ‘Painguni Uthsavam’ was handed over to the temple authorities by the Prison Superintendent. Every year, it is the prison inmates who make the rope for the ‘Uthsavam’. “Five inmates had been engaged in making the rope for the past few days by observing a vow,” said Pradeep.