Views spike for Pahadi food vloggers in lockdown

NEW DELHI: Even as the lockdown bulldozed businesses and robbed livelihoods, confinement helped several residents who are creating videos of Uttarakhand’s

cuisine

. A shared longing for the traditional “pahadi” food led them to start their channels, using nothing but household tools and operating out of their kitchens. These food

vloggers

say views and comments on their videos have considerably increased during the lockdown as people have been trying out the recipes with enthusiasm.

YouTuber Renu Dhatola Chilwal

, 34, said she has been getting more ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ than ever on her channel even though she took a break during the lockdown due to an increased workload. “Stuck at home, natives of the hills are looking to go back to their roots,” she said.

Smita Rawat from Naugaon, Uttarkashi, said, “I cannot definitely say that my viewership has increased during the lockdown. It keeps fluctuating. It is true that many people are searching for recipes right now. However, as a lot of professional chefs have also started putting up videos, people prefer those.”

“Everyone knows someone that is fussing about, failing at or flaunting their culinary skills. One doesn’t need a fancy degree to earn money from cooking. I am doing it from my kitchen!” said Aakanksha Pant Tiwari, 31, a food vlogger from Haldwani.

For 46-year-old

Kumud Lohani

, a homemaker and a food vlogger from Almora, it was the simplicity of the cuisine that had her hooked. “I moved to Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh after my wedding and the food seemed to have undergone a paradigm shift. The diet of the hills has none of the richness you find in common gravy-based

North Indian dishes

. They are simple and wholesome. Take ‘jaula’, for example. All you need is

rice

and curd and your meal is ready. The ingredients are also relatively inexpensive,” she said.

Experts believe there’s a reason Uttarakhand’s dishes don’t require a lot of effort and use only readily-available ingredients. Chef Samta, who works with boutique hotels across Uttarakhand that are famous for serving local cuisine, said the state’s cuisine mostly uses what grows in nature. “Most ‘pahadi’ dishes are prepared in ghee (clarified butter) or mustard oil. This is because most families in the hills used to own livestock and grew mustard seeds in farms. Some still do,” Samta said.

“It’s food for the poor,” said chef Avtar Singh Rana, a native of Tehri Garhwal who has been experimenting in ‘pahadi’ food for some time now. “You don’t have to go out of your way to cook a Uttarakhandi dish. All you need are basic spices like coriander, turmeric and green chillies. Our ancestors would have this food before going to work in the fields and stay full for the better part of the day. The ingredients having been grown in pollution-free heights, the food happens to be extremely pure and keeps you hale and hearty,” Rana said.

Pankaj Aggarwal

, a Mussoorie-based chef with 30 years of experience, believes Uttarakhand’s cuisine hasn’t been promoted enough. “Not only Uttarakhand, all Himalayan states have a distinct cuisine and should be preserved in all its authenticity. A tourist in Uttarakhand is highly unlikely to find an eatery that serves local food. People of the hills should value their food culture and the government should work towards preserving it. If we start now, we can maybe get there in 10 years.”


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