Churning out 1.2 metric tons of curry in under an hour, staff members running a spotlessly clean, high-tech kitchen in the Hindu holy city of Vrindavan are hoping to turn around the poor reputation of India's free school lunch program.

As a large machine rolls out thousands of fluffy, hot rotis (flat breads), men in aprons add spices to vegetables and broths cooking in giant steel pots in the three-story kitchen.

"We had the vision that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger," said Bharatarshabha Dasa, spokesman for the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which manages the kitchen.