THE CUP OVERFLOWS: Himanshu and Parul Raval process groundnut milk

You can have your pick: from a glass of plain, chilled milk to a cup of creamy shrikhand or butterscotch ice cream, the range of milk products on offer is as wide as it can get. At Rs 3 a litre of milk, it couldn't get cheaper than this. And quality is no issue either-any doctor would testify to their nutritional value. At least, that's what those behind the products claim.

That's not all. The products aren't from any dairy. The milk from which the various derivatives are made is extracted from groundnut. Far-fetched as it may sound, it is a reality-a fact churned out of what would normally have been dismissed as fiction.

Indeed, Parul and Himanshu Raval, a little-known couple making the products in Junagadh, a town in Saurashtra in Gujarat, read about such a possibility in an obscure article and cannot even recall when or where it was. But for six months now, they've been doing little other than experimenting on the groundnut or "G-Nut milk" idea. The motive behind the experiment is as unique as the products themselves. It is, as the philanthropic couple will tell you, to provide an alternative for the poorer sections of the society who cannot afford cow's or buffalo's milk, which are priced at anywhere between Rs 10 and Rs 25 a litre.

The couple was inspired by their son, Brahmaghosh, a class IX student. The Ravals regularly donate food and household articles to the poor. Last year, when they were distributing blankets, Brahmaghosh was pained to find that most of those receiving the blankets were malnourished. He wanted to know why they were so weak. His parents told him that it was mainly because of the lack of milk in the diet.

It was a comment that weighed heavily on Brahmaghosh's mind. He suggested to his parents that they also donate milk to the needy. But the Ravals realised it was beyond their means. A manager with NABARD, Himanshu is the only earning member in the family and they felt they were doing all they could by way of charity.

But it was a case of the proverbial will showing the way. Recounting the item on groundnut milk that they had once chanced upon, the Ravals decided to put it to test. Groundnut was painstakingly ground by adding water. The filtered mixture was then set to boil. But it was not after almost a 100 trials, using varying quantities of water, that they arrived at the right consistency and milk-white colour.

Once the physical attributes were taken care of, the task was to find out whether the mixture could substitute milk. When the first attempt to make curd out of it succeeded, there was no stopping the overjoyed couple. They tried everything from shrikhand to kadi and ice cream. The concoctions, it appeared, were smoother and creamier than those made from milk. True, there was an unmistakable tinge of groundnut that remained in the products. "But that," says Parul, "is significantly reduced when the milk is boiled about four times."

So are the Ravals all set to apply for a patent? The spartan duo, although flooded with inquiries from the public and local dairy manufacturers who have approached them to launch a commercial venture, refuses to be lured. "We will consider our small experiment a success only when the Government uses the G-nut milk and its products to tackle malnutrition among the poor," says Himanshu. "The Government should redraw its public welfare schemes and capitalise on this discovery."

Himanshu means every word he says. According to him, the Gujarat Government can save up to Rs 10 crore a day if the state's daily milk requirement is replaced with groundnut milk. Even otherwise, it would be a viable alternative to overcome the shortage of dairy milk or for those allergic to animal protein. It could also ensure the growth of a new industry in the groundnut-rich areas.

However, it is early days yet. There is little by way of research to support their claims on issues like processing and nutritional value. Significantly, the Junagadh-based National Research Centre for Groundnut, the only official body for groundnut research in the country, doesn't say that milk and milk products can be produced from groundnut. Even in stray articles that talk about groundnut milk, there is no hint of deriving other products from it. But as the Ravals would say, there's always a first time.