Snack superstars omelette, onion vada lose their ‘luscious’ flavour amid price hike

Meanwhile,  a kg of big onion cost `110 on the Ernakulam wholesale market on Monday. 
For representational purposes only
For representational purposes only

KOCHI: A rainy evening at a wayside eatery, demolishing a plate of piping hot double omelette and dosa washed down by a glass of steaming tea, has now turned into a salivating memory! Also, instead of the teary-eyed eatery ‘chef’ slicing up onions with surgical precision, witnessed by customers, nowadays it is the price of onion which evokes tears.No longer  ‘thattukadas’ resonate with calls of ‘Chetta, oru double omelette’. Also, absent are the beautiful onion rings that pep up the beef and fish fry. 

‘Ulli vada’ (onion vada), which got its name due to the presence of the onion, is another item which has lost its sheen on account of the skyrocketing onion prices. Most of the tea stalls have removed onion vada from the menu. In places like Ernakulam, where ‘savala vada’ is popular, the hoteliers are using cabbage instead of onion.

According to Roy C, a baker, “Onion has disappeared from almost all the borma items like puffs and cutlets. Besides, the price of palm oil and vegetables like carrot has gone up. The price of meat cutlet has gone upto Rs 13 while that of chicken cutlet from Rs 15 to Rs 16. The price of egg puff has also increased to Rs 14 from Rs 13”.

Meanwhile,  a kg of big onion cost `110 on the Ernakulam wholesale market on Monday. “ The retail price went up to Rs 120 a kg while that of shallot was Rs 140 per kg on the wholesale market. Small onion is being sold at Rs 150 per kg on the retail market.

Due to the rising demand for cabbage, which is widely being used in hotels instead of onion, the price of cabbage rose to `40 per kg on Monday from the Rs 30 last week,” said KK Ashraf, president, Ernakulam Market Stall Owners.

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