Onions, tomatoes and potatoes —inextricable part of almost all our meals — now slowly disappearing from the kitchen counters of many including homemakers, restaurant owners and middle class people due to the recent surge in their prices.
The surge reminds 24-year- old media professional Utkarsh Gathani, who lives away from his family in Rajasthan and manages his household alone in Delhi, of a famous dialogue in the movie '3 Idiots'. "Remember that scene from 3 Idiots 'paneer to kuch dino me itni itni thailiyo me sonar ki dukan me milega', I think that can be used for onions and tomatoes as well," he said.
Utkarsh enjoys cooking despite having a busy schedule. However, with the increase in prices, he has replaced tomatoes with the packaged tomato puree while using ginger garlic paste instead of buying them, stating that although it doesn't give the exact same taste, one has to manage with their earnings.
"Truth be told, the rising prices of essential vegetables have made it difficult to manage my household budget. Even when I order from delivery apps like Big Basket and Swiggy Instamart, the cost is significantly higher than before. It's a daily struggle to afford basic groceries. Hence, I have started substituting the items with cheaper options," he said.
This is not his story alone and neither of his specific socio-economic strata. With the staples selling for more than double the rates just last month, vegetable bags are returning home lighter and hearts heavier.
Crop damage across states due to delayed rain is one reason for the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, including those in the gourd family, cauliflower and cabbage. According to the daily retail report by the Department of Consumer Affairs on Friday, potatoes were selling at the national average of nearly Rs 40 per kg going up to Rs 93 per kg, onions at the maximum price of Rs 80 per kg and an average of Rs 44 per kg, and tomatoes at maximum rate of Rs 120 per kg with an average price of Rs 73 per kg.
The inflation has also hit restaurants and catering services trying to absorb the price rise in their production cost for now. Harsh Sisodia, manager of Udupi restaurant at ITO, stated how these prices affect their profits while they only increase the price of their dishes once every year in January.
"We only increase our prices once every year in January. However, these price rises keep happening and specifically this time it has been considerable. You see we do not compromise on our food quality, hence whatever the prices maybe we keep recipes the same. Our Uttapam has so many vegetables including onions and tomatoes. Its price and quality remain the same despite the two fold rise in the prices of these vegetables," he claimed, adding the weekly cost of acquiring vegetables for the eatery has gone up from six to seven thousand to 14,000 to 15,000.
26 year old Hardeep Singh, who is working at the famous Sardarji Parathe wale with his grandfather, says that cauliflower which used to be 20 rupees per kg now costs at 110 while onions have also increased. "This impacts our day to day business. But what can we do? We can't serve parathes with less stuffing of these vegetables and compromise on quality. That's our hall mark so we face the brunt with being satisfied with lesser profits," he said.
Meanwhile, home owners are avoiding these staple vegetables in their food during the rise. 48 year old Monika Singhal, a homemaker, said that she feels she will rather rely on eating dal and cereals than these costly vegetables. "I go to buy vegetables every week on Friday. However, for the last three weeks I saw a significant rise in prices of essential vegetables. We have to work according to the budget we have in hand. So I just try to avoid getting them for the time being and instead make dal to supplement it.
