New Delhi- Indian astronauts can look forward to have mouth watering food when India’s first space mission will take place in 2014.  They can enjoy chicken pulao, lemon rice, even dosas and bhajjis during their.

According to sources, the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is busy cooking up desi food for the two astronauts who will participate in the seven-day expedition. Core food scientists, biochemists and microbiologists have already beg-un identifying dishes that will make the astronauts feel at home in orbit.

However, the menu will be no gourmet affair and certainly not as spicy as Indians enjoy on earth, says an official of DFRL. "We cannot afford to strain an astronaut’s system. Spicy meals and hot sauces will be avoided. But we are ready to add snacks like dosas and bhajjis to the menu if required," he adds.

DFRL got its first taste of space food R&D during the Indo-Soviet space mission in 1984, when it laid out a menu for squadron leader Rakesh Sharma’s stint in space and it is now preparing a list of dishes it will make for the mission. It hopes to prepare food which will be readily digestible, free from microbes — and palatable.

"We have developed Indian food for astronauts. If needed, our scientists will visit Nasa and the Russian federal space agencies to adopt latest advancements in space food technology," official concludes.