KURNOOL: With skyrocketing prices of tomatoes, many people are using tamarind as an alternative to the red fruit to prepare curries. On Thursday, November 18, 2021, a kg of tomatoes was sold at Rs 80 at Pathikonda wholesale market and the price would go up to Rs 120 a kg at retail markets across the State.
The demand for tamarind has increased for the past couple of days. The reason is simple: People are replacing tomatoes with tamarind in curries due to the high prices of the red fruit, a key ingredient in Indian curries. The sale of tamarind has increased by at least 10-15 per cent in the last 48 hours, said Gunda Madhu, a kirana merchant near RTC bus station in Kurnool.
“Generally, we sell 10 kgs of tamarind a day, but on Wednesday and Thursday, it went up to 12 kg and 13 kg, respectively,” he said. However, the prices of tamarind were not affected so far and one kg of tamarind is selling at Rs 150 to Rs 280, based on quality, he said. S Srihari, a wholesale tamarind trader, based in Old Town, Kurnool, said he was getting more orders from retail traders in the district for the last two or three days.
Srihari supplies at least 10 tonnes of tamarind in a month in various parts of the district and neighbouring districts. Srihari, however, felt that the increase in demand was only temporary as it is linked to high tomato prices. Ch Malleswari, a housewife from Krishnanagar in Kurnool, said that tamarind is the best substitute for tomatoes to curries, particularly dal and sambar. Moreover, tamarind juice has many health benefits, she added.