Kamal Ghorui
Much to its indignant distaste, India is willy-nilly getting a taste, literally, of the conflict raging in Iran and neighbouring countries.
Iran’s blocking of Strait of Hormuz, which overnight has become an international buzzword, and through which a great deal of oil and other vital supplies pass, has meant that the West Asian conflict has invaded our country’s kitchens.
The real, or rumoured, conflict-generated shortage of LPG cylinders used for cooking, among other things, has not only led to the closure of many small eateries across the country but also affected households, as distant warfare determines the war-affected fare that families get to eat.
Print and social media abound with tips and suggestions about methods of cooking and recipes, which obviate reliance on the errant LPG.
Are induction cooktops better than infrared cooktops? A moot point of much mootness, which is compounded by the fact that no one seems to know what an induction cooktop is, or how it works, and much the same goes for the infrared option, which, moreover, conjures unintended associations with infra dig, denoting inferior or undesirable status.
Which of these LPG-replacing gizmos can make rotis? North India wants to know. Man does not live by roti alone, admonishes South India, and demands to ascertain which one makes better dosas.
Both North and South commiserate with each other that neither can make pakodas or vadas, or indeed anything at all that involves deep frying, including that perennial pan-Indian favourite called Veg Manchurian.
Stick to salads, which necessitate no cooking, exhort health enthusiasts, provoking the righteous rejoinder that lettuce not talk such nonsense about ghaas-phoos which is more phoos than ghaas.
And for what it’s worth, it’s cold comfort to reflect that come the midterm American polls in Nov, Operation Epic Fury with its inflationary impact on the price of gasoline in the gas-ravenous US is likely to have a boomerang culinary effect on POTUS and his MAGA devotees, who are made to swallow setback and eat humble pie.
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