BENGALURU: Watermelon pizza, Korean sauces, banana pudding... In these times of lockdown, if you thought the next time you’d get to satisfy your food cravings would be once things return to normalcy, here’s some good news for you. City restaurants have devised a way for you to taste what’s on their menu – by sharing recipes of their best-selling dishes, and doing demos on social media. Chef Vikas Seth, culinary director of Sanchez and Sriracha, points out that in a bid to keep people engaged during this difficult phase, he has been simplifying complicated recipes.
“This life skill was never the need of the hour, but now it has become essential. People are getting tired of doing the same thing over and again, so I figured it was the best time to learn something new, and keep others entertained,” says Seth, who is focusing on dishes that can be made with ingredients that are easily available at home. “We are sharing substitutes like green peas for avocados, and hung curd mixed with honey in place of cream cheese.
We made a toast with beetroot, a watermelon pizza, and more such restaurant-style food using simple, homely ingredients,” he says. For those trying to figure out some authentic South East Asian cuisine, 1Q1’s executive chef Aditya Singh Bhadoria has been sharing recipes for sauces served at their restaurant.
“We share a couple of recipes, and show their preparation using homely substitutes,” he says, adding that recipes like Korean Gochujang Sauce and the Japanese Miso Karashi Sauce, are easy to try even for beginners.
And if you fancy some cocktails to pair with the dishes, mixologist Robert Hospet offers help at hand. “During these unprecedented times, we are sharing the knowledge we have of easy-to-replicate cocktails,” he says, adding that they also provide a platform where viewers can interact with them.
To get people baking at home, Magnolia Bakery has been sharing some popular choices, like their banana pudding. “Since most family members are together at home, baking is a great bonding exercise. At times like this, we are all looking for something comforting to do, and nothing is more comforting than the smell of freshly-baked desserts at home,” says co-founder Zonu Reddy. (With inputs from Tanya Savkoor)