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Indians turn to quick-fix meals as surging food inflation eats into income
- Many families are cooking one-pot dishes with local lentils, cutting down on expensive veggies and avoiding deep fried snacks to tide over the cost of living crisis
- While Indian households are no stranger to kitchen resourcefulness, experts say the dietary workarounds come at the cost of nutrition
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A surge in the cost of food and energy driven by a global supply chain crunch and the war in Ukraine have had a knock-on effect for India’s middle- and lower-income households, prompting many to turn to budget-friendly meals to get by.
“We buy less fish and meat now with the rise in prices, sometimes we just eat rice with salted buttermilk and a little dried fish,” said Sasikala Rajan, 35, a domestic worker in the southern city of Chennai.
Rajan, who earns 15,000 rupees a month (US$196), said her family of three has also adopted other austerity measures like cutting down on tomatoes, garlic, onions and spices in the dishes.
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“I use a pressure cooker for fast cooking and saving on gas. There is no option but to make everything stretch longer,” she said.
India’s inflation has soared to a 17-month high of nearly 7 per cent, pushing up prices of staples, including onions, potatoes, tomatoes, chicken and oils even further.
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