Serving time increases as restos shift to chullahs

Kolkata: Pushed to migrate to electrical gadgets and coal, wood-fuelled chullahs, serving time went up at several restaurants. Serving time is set to rise by 25% at Songhai-Manthan and MS Bar & Lounge in central Kolkata, which began its move to induction cookers and electric fryers on Monday. "While frying becomes faster now, it will take longer to prepare gravies. So, the stress will now be on hastening the pre-cooking part. We will try and get the pre-cooking part done before the food is put on the electric ovens. Still, it will now take 7-8 minutes to serve a dish that takes 5," said owner Sudesh Poddar. Aminia on Monday shifted to an open-air wooden chullah, where all its biryani is being centrally cooked before being transported to its 14 outlets. It is still using LPG for a part of its cooking. "While some of our staff are used to operating the chullah, the rest are struggling. Induction cookers, too, are new for them. It helped that we started on a Monday when footfall is low. But next weekend will be a challenge as it is the Eid weekend and there will be a surge in orders," said owner Kabir Azhar.Oudh 1590, too, flagged off a centrally operated open-air chulah on Monday, which is now being used to cook all its biryani. "We are starting early since cooking is slow on chullah. The biryani is being transported to our outlets twice a day. So far, we managed to serve all our customers on time. But it may take a while to adjust to the new cooking system," said co-founder and owner Shiladitya Chaudhury.Yet others are struggling to cope with the shift. "Since our LPG stocks are exhausted, we have shifted entirely to alternative methods. Our staff are not used to operating chullahs and induction cookers. We can't use chullahs since they can't be used indoors. Even though staff are being guided, we are struggling to stick to the schedule. We have discontinued serving breakfast. We are struggling to prepare curries and gravies since they can't be easily cooked on inductions and electric heaters," said the owner of a central Kolkata restaurant.Amber in central Kolkata is trying to get the ‘fastest cooking gadgets' to maintain serving time. "We are looking to procure better induction cookers from Delhi. Cooking time went up since it takes longer to cook gravies on electric cookers. We are using LPG judiciously and managed to save some, which are now being used," said owner Sanjay Khullar.