MUMBAI: Food trends in India during Covid2019 lockdown threw up some very interesting results, a detailed report by Foodfood, India’s favorite food and lifestyle channel. With India locked down for two months, there was a rise of people experimenting with their passions and interests and among them cooking took first place. This was many times a necessity and many other times an indulgence.
According to social media and google search analysis done by Foodfood, most searched recipe trends included a mix of baking and culinary delights that the country was cooking during the lockdown period of April and May. The top most searches were Cake, Dalgona Coffee, Samosa, Jalebi, Dhokla, Chicken momos, Panipuri among others. While 'Dalgona coffee recipe at home' spiked 5,000 per cent, searches for 'chicken momo recipe' grew 4,350 per cent and searches for "mango icecream recipe" saw 3,250 per cent rise on google search.
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor said, “It has been our attempt with our shows and our channel (Foodfood) to help people discover their passion for cooking and this lockdown been proven that – Har dil mein chef rahta hain. During my innumerable live on social media during lockdown, I have interacted with people who have become overnight stars with their cooking recipes on the internet and are discovering their cooking talent.”
What’s interesting is the rise in search has been mainly driven by metro cities including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkotta, Hyderabad and Chennai accounting for more than 25 per cent share. States that lead the search include Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka. The first weeks of lockdown saw an increase in buying of staples and spices including rava and maida which were flying off the shelves as people were experimenting with delicious treats rather their normal fare.
Devendra Chawla, CEO, Nature’s Basket & Spencer had said “As people get adjusted to restricted living as the new normal and lack of options to eat out, consumers are increasingly taking on the chef role, a trend which will continue post lockdown too”
Some of the other trends during lockdown were:
Baking
Everyone with an oven was baking and who didn’t have an oven were baking in pressure cooker. Whether it was cakes, cookies or even breads, people were trying one thing after the other.
Banana Bread
With bread supply disrupted, people started making bread at home and Google saw a surge in search of banana bread recipes. Many variations of like banana cake, banana muffins and banoffee pies also made it to list but Banana Bread ruled the roost!
Quarantine Snacking
“Quarantine snacks” became the top trending snack search as more and more people stayed inside and experimented with their pantries. In an interview with Bloomberg Quint, Future Group President Food & FMCG Kamaldeep Singh had said, “The definition of basic necessity has changed in a couple of weeks from basic foods to snacking and munching items.” Infact recipes like Samosa, Chinese Bhel, Khaman Dhokla has seen a 300% increase on the searches on websites of Sanjeev Kapoor and Foodfood.
Street Food
With Street food a strict NO and all options gone, renowned chefs and food bloggers took to Instagram to share their versions of some of the best chaat preparations at home. Aloo Chaat! What’s more, Google insights reported that recipe searches on Youtube increased by 20% for street food recipes! And, the top most-searched recipe was Pani Puri recipe with an increase of 107% search rate. Other recipes that have been widely searched in street food include Baked Potato Chips, Paneer Shawarma Mexican Paneer Fajita (Source Foodfood website).
Comfort Food- One-Pot Meals
Khichdi and biryanis have been our comfort food for as long as we remember, and also double up as a gourmet dining experience when we want it to be. Making it quick and easy or a time consuming fare, these recipes can be as easy or as tedious as we want them to be. Keywords like easy, quick & tasty have been associated with rice recipes and searches have delivered pulao, fried rice etc. Google insights has reported with restrictions in availability of ingredients people are looking for alternative ingredient options to savour their favourite dishes without missing out on taste. A 200% growth in searches with the word, “without” has been recorded in the Food & beverages category.
Handmade Pizzas
With kids at home and no pizzas to order, home-made pizzas has been one of the most successful attempts families are making with kids involved. Many chefs have given out recipes and videos and to make easy pizzas at home starting from the dough with variations including sour dough combinations. Live on Social media showcasing handmade pizzas have garnered huge views and been very popular across the board. This pandemic has taught us many things and most of self-reliance to a lot of men and women about cooking who weren’t cooking before. Now nobody is afraid to step into the kitchen and learn how to make things from recipe videos. Women were cooking and experimenting way before this pandemic have learnt to share their art and passion.
