The prices of home-cooked meals rose in December on dearer key kitchen staples such as tomato and potato, a report said on Monday.

The average cost of preparing a vegetarian thali was up 6 per cent at ₹31.6 per plate in December compared with the year-ago period’s ₹29.7, but was down from the preceding November month’s rate of ₹32.7, the report by a unit of rating agency Crisil said.

In a report which seeks to assess the common man’s expenditure on food, Crisil found that a non-vegetarian thali cost was higher by 12 per cent on-year and 3 per cent on-month to ₹63.3 in December.

BoB index

BoB’s Essential Commodities Index, which tracks the prices of key staples, recorded a 0.5 per cent month-on-month decline, reinforcing expectations of easing inflationary pressures.

CPI inflation is projected to moderate to 5 per cent in December, down from 5.5 per cent in November, driven largely by lower food prices.