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For the love of chaat: Delhiites turn master chefs in lockdown
Foodies in Delhi have used their cravings for street delicacies as an inspiration to take to the kitchen, and prepare different dishes, and share their pictures on social media.
The lockdown has left the infamous gluttony of Delhi-NCR craving for street foods such as chaat, bun tikki, momos and more. The bright side is, it has brought out a master chef in most Delhiites. It might have taken them a while to get their hands on rolling the perfect golgappa or blending masala for papdi chaat, but recipes on internet have turned saviours and the rest can be seen in the numerous pictures that have flooded social media.
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Couples, in fact, are now taking turns in the kitchen to churn out some of the most appetising treat for the family. Vibhuti Sahai, a resident of Safdarjung Enclave, says, “Gone are the days when we could walk down the street to devour aaloo tikki chat. Now, my daughter and I have taken it upon ourselves to satiate our cravings. We recently prepared gol gappas and aaloo tikki chat from scratch, and they tasted amazing. Showing off their pictures on the family group is just an added thrill!”
While many are busy preparing snacks, some are busy video calling their north-eastern friends to get that perfect recipe of momo. “I loved to eat momos from Dolma Aunty’s stall whenever I used to visit Lajpat Nagar market. Now, I’m trying to recreate her recipe with the help of my friend Dechen, who I video call and together we try our hands at making momos. The only difference is while hers were perfect, mine were a disaster,” chuckles Sarita Ahuja, a resident of Sector 30 in Gurugram.
And has the lockdown encouraged husbands to become hands-on chefs too? Lalit Kapoor, a resident of Noida, says, “At our place, it’s a cut-throat competition between me and my wife and the kids are the judges. We both take turns to prepare food in the kitchen. In our first cook-off challenge, she chose Chinese while I made Italian. In the end, we were too busy licking our fingers, and couldn’t decide who won.”
As if it’s tough to make snacks and desserts at a time when ingredients are limited because of the lockdown? Vinita Malhotra, a resident of DLF Phase 2 in Gurugram, has an innovative solution. She says, “if you don’t get the right ingredient, just substitute it with something else. I was making chaat the other day and realised that I didn’t have chaat masala. So, I used other masalas such as amchur powder, kala namak etc to give the essence of chaat masala. It worked really well, and my entire family enjoyed the chaat!”
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Many Delhiites are sharing the photos of their cooked meals on their social media handles. Akshara Lal, a resident of Defence Colony, says, “I’ve started posting on social media, everything I cook! I love the likes and shares it gets; I’m thinking of starting a blog of my recipes. Soon, I’ll start recording videos and shall put them on YouTube. Cooking is such a stress buster, I feel.”
As denizens face the extended lockdown, it turns out that one of the most important things that has helped them keep calm is one delectable dish a time.
Author tweets @FizzyBuddha
