An important problem we wanted to tackle with our product is the access Indian people have to sources of vitamins. Indeed, we researched what structures and programs already exist in India, and found that it was a major issue.
One of the most important governmental programs for vitamin supplementation is the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, which has existed in India since 1975. This program monitors the growth and development of children, and provides supplementary nutrition as well as education and primary health care for children under six and pregnant and lactating mothers. The program is implemented through a network of community-level anganwadi centers (AWC), which provides daily supplements both in the center as well as through take-home rations. Those supplements include doses of vitamin A and tablets of iron and folic acid, in order to prevent xerophtalmia - which can lead to blindness - and anaemia.
However, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) held in 2005-2006 in India reports that only 28% of children received those supplements and health care even though 4/5 of children under six lived in a region covered by an anganwadi center. In the 6 months preceding the survey, only 1/4 of the children between 12-35 months were given vitamin A supplements - and in 9 Indian states, this number falls to less than 20%. The access to ICDS has been improved in recent years, however, although access is still far from being universal (2). According to a national survey held in 2013-14, 46% of children aged 6-59 months had received doses vitamin A.
As for folic acid, the 2013-14 survey reports only 14% of children aged 6-59 months having received iron and folic acid supplements.

Though the program holds great promise and has implemented more than a million anganwadicenters, it is clear that people’s access to them is still very limited. People have to walk to the nearest center everyday if they want to receive the supplements, which is not convenient especially in rural areas.

The idli (or idly) is a little steamed cake made of fermented rice and black lentil (called urad dal or dal). It is a very popular breakfast all across India, mostly in the South, often eaten with chutney.
We wanted our product to really fit the traditions and taste of the people we were targeting, and the idli appeared like the ideal dish. It is so popular that it is considered a staple food in the indian’s population diet, as well as the dosa which is made of a similar batter but a bit less coarse, and looks like a crepe. Its two ingredients (rice and dal) are very cheap and accessible ressources, and idli is commonly eaten by people who lack other types of food, and who suffer from vitamin deficiencies. There is even a program in the country that distributes free rice to the poorest populations in the country, the Public Distribution System (PDS); and in the city of Chennai and its neighborhood, canteens called Amma Unavagam sell idli and other foods for very inexpensive prices (Rs1 for 1 idli).

Other than its popularity and easy access, the most interesting property of the idli is that it is fermented. To cook idli, people soak rice and dal separately, then grind and mix them together, then let the batter ferment overnight. In the hot indian climate, the batter ferments quickly and its volume can triple in one night.
Many studies have been made on the microbiome of the idli batter. Though the strains found in idli can vary a lot from a study to another, probably because the microbiome depends on the region, we found out that Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus plantarum are among the most common fermentative bacteria found in idli batter, while in the yeast population Saccharomyces cerevisiae was always present. ADD SOURCES Since we wanted our product to disrupt as little as possible the taste of the idli, we chose to work on those organisms to produce the different vitamins and improve the iron availability, instead of adding new micro-organisms that weren’t already present in the idli batter, and that could have influenced the whole microbiome in a way that would have been difficult to predict. Many people who reviewed our project said they cared a lot about the taste, and would prefer that we modified microbes already present in the idli than add new ones.
+ should we talk about the advantages of fermented foods?