Google recently revealed that recipe-related searches hit a new record high in India during April as people stayed home and aimed to break the monotony in the kitchen. While ‘dalgona coffee recipe at home’ spiked 5,000 per cent, searches for ‘chicken momo recipe’ grew 4,350 per cent and searches for “mango icecream recipe” saw 3,250 per cent rise.
According to the company, the most searched recipes on Google were cake, samosa, jalebi, momos, dhokla, panipuri, dosa, paneer and chocolate cake Banana bread and homemade pizza searches also tops the chart according to a Google Trends report which shows people have been looking up more recipes since the coronavirus crisis began than at any other time in history.
Comfort food is the remedy for uncertainty, with recipes for French toast, chocolate and carrot cakes and Dalgona coffee – falling well inside the top 10. For the uninitiated, this coffee, which has been going viral on social media, originated in South Korea. It is made by whipping equal portions of instant coffee powder, sugar and hot water till it becomes creamy, and then adding cold or hot milk to it.
Simple, cheap and calorific dishes are de rigueur for life in quarantine, with fried rice and spaghetti bolognese laced with minced beef among the most searched for dinner recipes.Dinner recipes, on the other hand, included fried rice and spaghetti bolognese laced with minced beef.
Corroborating the trend, many Bollywood celebrities like Alia Bhatt and Sonam Kapoor too have been experimenting with their culinary skills — from baking banana bread to healthy versions of cakes. Mira Kapoor recently baked a zucchini chocolate cake while Jahnvi Kapoor attempted a carrot cake recipe.
For those who cannot make a pizza dough could also try Neena Gupta hassle-free ‘desi’ pizza, with chapati for base.
Interestingly, among the most searched recipes — the third most-searched — was that of DIY hand sanitiser using aloe vera gel, especially after its shortage in the market. Google Trends report further revealed an all-time high search worldwide for baking, with rising interest in “how to make bread in microwave”.
