Patna: The West Asia conflict and resulting commercial LPG shortage forced eateries in Patna to remove items like samosas, jalebis, and biryani from their menus. Shop owners and street vendors shifted to alternative fuel sources and dishes with shorter cooking times to avoid total closure. Much to the despair of Patnaites, their favourite foods and snacks, such as samosa-jalebi, are on the verge of becoming unavailable.Vinod Kumar Pathak, who owns two restaurants in the city, said, “The cylinder that we have right now will finish tomorrow, so we are trying to come up with alternatives like using electric and natural chulhas.” He added that the transition presents technical challenges for specific cuisines. “The problem is that we are unsure if coal-run chulhas can make rolls or not because they usually require high heat,” Pathak said.Additionally, items like halwa, biryani, and manchurian are sidelined because they require elaborate cooking processes. Regarding the efficiency of traditional fuels, Pathak said, “Dal makhani takes around two hours on gas, but on a chulha, we expect it to take at least 7 hours.”Street-side vendors also altered their inventory based on fuel compatibility. Ashok Kumar, a vendor on Jamal Road who sold samosas until Friday, said, “We shifted to coal because the cylinder is empty. Samosas need high heat, so I shifted to kachoris because they can be made on coal, unlike samosas.” He added that the change is affecting his business because evening customers prefer samosas. Similarly, a sweet shop on SP Verma Road stopped producing jalebis because the dish requires constant high heat for frying.For some fast food operators, the lack of gas threatens to halt operations entirely. Suraj Kumar, a seller on Boring Road, said, “We have to close our shops in a week because my cylinder will get exhausted soon. Fast food and fried food cannot be made on coal, so there is no other option but to be out of business for now until the situation subsides.”In contrast, vendors relying on non-LPG methods saw a rise in demand. A vendor on Dakbungalow Road selling boiled corn said, “I have a boiling machine that does not run on LPG, so my business is not affected.” He added that litti sales are increasing because the dish is traditionally prepared over a coal fire. “It is good seeing people go back to their roots over the crisis,” he said.
