Thanks to the panchayat polls, the demand for home delivery food has gone up in Kolkata as in most houses, the domestic help and the cook(s) have returned to their bases in the suburbs to exercise their voting rights.
Temporary surge in business
According to Taniya Biswas, owner of a Tollygunge-based home delivery service, for the last few days, she has been receiving around 15 to 20 extra orders. “My regular customers are students. On most days, they order only dinner and on weekends they order lunch as well. I deliver around 80 packets on a daily basis, but for the last few days, there has been a sudden surge,” Taniya said.
Behala-based Gayatri Chatterjee has been experiencing a similar situation. “Initially, I didn’t realise the reason. After a couple of days, a customer told me that it was because of the unavailability of domestic help. Usually on weekends, I get extra orders, but for the last few days I have received several orders and I am preoccupied till Sunday,” she said.
Mostly Bengali food items
Most of these kitchens specialise in a variety of dishes, including the Mughlai and Chinese cuisines. However, most people are ordering Bengali food items. “On Sundays, the staple menu is Basanti Pulao and chicken or mutton curry. However, for the past few days, I have received several orders for the usual Bengali food items like rice, a couple of sabzis, dal, egg or fish curry,” said Tanusree Chatterjee, owner of a food delivery unit.
Similarly, the demand for Bengali-style combo of fried rice with chilli chicken or biryani are still on the hit-list, but most people are asking for the usual meals. “Since it is a temporary matter, the demand for egg thali is higher than fish or chicken curry,” said Gayatri Chatterjee.
People are also ordering Chinese and Mughlai dishes too iStock photograph
Limited infrastructure
Most of these home delivery services serve the locals and aren’t registered with any famed food delivery apps. “We have a small setup with a couple of delivery guys. My kitchen is in south Kolkata and I am not equipped to deliver food in Salt Lake. If someone comes to pick it up, it’s fine,” said Biswas.
Interestingly, many of these units have started getting calls from the suburbs too. “I have been receiving calls from different areas in South 24 Parganas,” said Tanusree.
Relief for the ailing
Being an osteoarthritis patient, Krishna Mukherjee, a homemaker from Behala, is depending on such home delivery units for the last couple of days as her domestic help has been on leave since Wednesday and would rejoin only on Monday. “I am making rice and ordering the remaining food items,” she signed off.