The unease of replacing ukadiche modak with shrikhand

For kitchens that routinely feed thousands, LPG is not merely a utility but the quiet engine that powers the elaborate choreography of Indian hospitality

MUMBAI: On a busy afternoon at Nikhil Caterers’ central kitchen in Dadar, its owner Nikhil Tipnis is in the midst of an unusual negotiation – he is gently persuading a long-time client to consider replacing ukadiche modak with shrikhand in an upcoming wedding menu.

iMumbai, India - March 15, 2026: A profile photo of the Nikhil caterers owner Nikhil Tipnis at Dadar in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Ordinarily, such a substitution would be unthinkable, but today, it’s a cause for survival.

The shortage of LPG cylinders has begun to squeeze Mumbai’s bustling catering industry. For kitchens that routinely feed thousands, LPG is not merely a utility but the quiet engine that powers the elaborate choreography of Indian hospitality.

“We have been hit hard. Large-scale event kitchens are heavily dependent on commercial LPG, and unfortunately there has been little clarity or communication from distributors or gas companies about supply,” said Tipnis, whose family has been in the business for 53 years. He has around 300 weddings pre-booked during the summer months. “We could plan ahead only if we knew when supplies would stabilise. But living with uncertainty makes it difficult to take future orders with confidence.”

The crisis has come right in the middle of the wedding season. Now, carefully curated menus are being revised -- gas-intensive dishes that require long simmering, steaming or deep frying are being replaced with simpler preparations. Freshly-made phulkas have given way to ready made chapatis, while fan favourites such as kothmir vadis and allu wadis are being induction steamed and tempered.

Electric fryers and induction stoves are a poor alternative to stoves that run on gas, while coal-fired cooking is impractical in modern facilities that are not designed for it, he said.

Tipnis, who is a member of the Bombay Caterers Association, said the implication of the crisis extends beyond individual kitchens. The association has over 1,200 members, each employing hundreds of daily-wage workers — cooks, helpers, servers, cleaners and logistics staff, whose livelihoods depend on the steady rhythm of the kitchens.

“If caterers are forced into temporary shut-downs, thousands of workers will lose their jobs,” he said. Indeed, in a city where celebrations sustain an entire culinary ecosystem, the quiet substitution of modak with shrikhand hints at a deeper unease — when kitchen flame falters, an entire chain of livelihoods flickers with it.