As cooking fires cool, wood helps PU dhaba keep hearth burning

Chandigarh: Even as most canteens, messes and food vendors across Panjab University campus are struggling to secure LPG cylinders — with many admitting to buying cylinders in the black market at inflated prices, a nearly 28-year-old dhaba inside the university continues serving students without disruption by relying on a traditional wood-fired tandoor.

The dhaba, which has been operating inside the campus for around three decades, prepares dal, roti and vegetables using a tandoor and firewood. The owner said the outlet had only recently started using LPG cylinders for cooking, but the main course was always cooked using the traditional wood-fired setup.


"We have been using a tandoor and firewood for years. LPG came later and we only used it for some additional cooking. Now that cylinders are becoming difficult to get, it has not affected us much because our main cooking still happens on wood fire," the dhaba owner said.

While the dhaba's traditional method has insulated it from the ongoing LPG shortage, most other food outlets across the Panjab University campus remain heavily dependent on gas cylinders.

Canteen operators and contractors running food outlets along major campus roads and academic blocks said they are serving food after arranging cylinders through informal channels, often at much higher prices.

A contractor operating a canteen on the Administrative Block road said the situation has worsened in the past few days as regular supply has become uncertain.

"Normally, one cylinder lasts us just about a day because we cook continuously. For tomorrow, we will have to arrange something again. If we don't get a cylinder, the kitchen simply cannot run," he said.

He added that since the shortage has intensified, many vendors have started buying cylinders in the black market. "Now, cylinders are coming for nearly Rs 2,000 each. Everyone is arranging from wherever they can because we cannot shut the canteens," he said.

Hostel mess operators across the university also said that while meals are still being prepared and served to students, arranging cylinders has become increasingly difficult. A few mess staff members said they have had to call multiple suppliers or rely on contacts to procure gas cylinders at short notice.

Other food vendors in the university are facing similar problems. Sanjay, who runs a shop serving roti, rice, sabzi, daal etc near Gate No 2, said he had to reduce his menu on Friday due to lack of gas cylinder.

"Today, I was only making paranthas. I do not have a cylinder for tomorrow and right now I am not getting one anywhere," he said, adding that smaller vendors are among the worst affected as they do not have back-up cylinders.

With LPG supplies becoming scarce and prices rising in the informal market, most kitchens across the campus are operating under the shadow of uncertainty. In contrast, the decades-old dhaba running on a wood-fired tandoor continues to cook the traditional way, a method that, for now, has shielded it from the ongoing gas shortage.