Fried (talia) no longer appeals to taste buds of Amritsar folks
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 6
The Covid-induced lockdown has surely changed the eating habits of people. Now, they are no longer fans of fried (talia), which was once a hot favourite of city folks.
They may be called pakode in the rest of the country but in the walled city their shops are called Talia Wale Di Hatti and sizzling hot products are called talia. Available in a variety of vegetables such as potato, cauliflower, onion, pumpkin, masala payaj, patod (leaves of arbi), brinjal, spinach and others, dipped in besan and fried in mustard oil, once they used to be a part of platter in the noon and at night. People would also relish these with tea in the evening.
Amit Kumar, who is the third generation owner running the family shop, said his grandfather had set up it over 100 years ago. He said the costly mustard oil, spices and post-pandemic cut in salaries of people put these items off the list of preference of people. “Before the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, the daily sale at my shop used to be between Rs 7,000 and 8,000. It has now come down to Rs 2,000,” he rued, adding that undoubtedly, the paying capacity of people decreased.
“It has forced less than 10 shops engaged in the profession to reduce the number of products. Even a couple of shops have shut closed down and the remaining ones are forced to prepare a limited number of items,” Amit said.
These traditional snacks have been hit by the rising costs of mustard oil and other ingredients. A litre of mustard oil costs around Rs 180 and prices of almost all spices used in their preparation has increased manifold.
Hari Om, another shop owner, wondered why people preferred unhealthy snacks made from maida. These items may be fried, but all of them are cooked fresh and we do not refrigerate them to serve these items next day. “One would not find even a small fridge at these shops to store the prepared items,” he said.
“Restricting the number of attendees at a party has also led to a fall in bulk orders. It was another major blow to their earnings,” he added.
