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.
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”.
Swapnil Pandey is the best selling author of much loved romantic thrillers Soldier's girl and Love Story of a Commando which depict another side of our soldiers filled with human emotions which breaks the stereotype of them only being exemplary warriors. The effortless portrayal of army life comes from her fauji background and she considers it her goal to raise awareness about the sacrifices of military families amongst the masses.
Her first book 'Soldier's Girl' which is a rare story of the constant struggle a Para Commando undergoes between his call of duty and love life dominated Amazon bestseller charts for a long. It was this rage of her first book that her second book 'Love Story of a Commando' which is an endless adventure between an NSG Commando and his beloved was instantly acquired by Mega publishing giant Westland-Amazon and the rest they say is history.
In quest of coming out of her comfort zone of writing fictions only, she had recently worked upon an ambitious book (untitled) based on real-life stories which is going to be released by one of the largest publishers in the world Penguin Random House. It is slated to be released by November 2021. Meanwhile, she is also working upon her fourth book which she intends to bring forward by 2022.
Apart from her illustrious career as an author, she is also a prominent blogger who works in close collaboration with various national and international brands. Since lockdown 2020, she has also started producing motivational and informational videos to add value to the lives of her audiences. These videos have created a huge impact and have been pivotal in raising various social issues around military families.
Being part of the fauji fraternity herself she holds a lot of respect for men in uniform and considers it her duty to raise awareness about the sacrifices these men and their families make in the line of duty. She believes it is the duty of a nation to not only look after the well being of its soldiers and their families but also honour their memories. The lives of Veer Naris (women whose fauji husbands are immortalised) also occupies a major part of the work and awareness drive. View all posts by Swapnil Pandey
