Many turn to social media to share recipes, encourage home-cooking

Visakhapatnam: If there is a common thread that connects people of diverse cultures, it is food.

In times of pandemic, many are going virtual to share their recipes through blogs, YouTube videos and Facebook posts.

Discovering the joy of cooking and sharing simple yet delectable recipes have become an emerging trend.

The habit of ordering food through apps or frequenting a restaurant has almost come to a close with the threat of coronavirus looming large. This has brought a significant change in cooking practices, especially in the past four months.

Despite their hectic schedule, many are not only spending considerable time in the kitchen but also sharing the preparations through social media platforms.

Lakshmi Jayaraman is passionate about cooking. Her experiments with ingredients available in the kitchen shelf nudged her to start a blog Lakshmi's Kitchen Corner. From wholesome soups to flavoured rice varieties, stuffed parathas to fruit desserts and assorted rasam varieties, the blog has about 400 recipes.

But for the past one month, she is busy uploading cooking videos on her Facebook page. "The idea is to bring slight variation to usual recipes and also incorporate simple methods to make a meal. Given the time constraint, most office-goers find the recipes quite handy and their feedback encourages me to come up with a new list," shares Lakshmi, who plans to start a YouTube channel soon.

AAC Navakaaya Pindivontalu

Bringing grannies traditional food forward, AAC (Andhra Association Calcutta) Navakaaya Pindivontalu, YouTube episodes introduces the present generation to unheard of recipes such as 'kandipappu undalu', 'pappulo undralu', 'vepa aaku annam', 'chala pongaralu' and 'biyyam nooka sooja'.

Conceived by Varija Cheruvu and concept executed by Madhavi Vedula, the bi-weekly episodes of the YouTube episodes aims at connecting those associated with AAC but stationed across the world. "It is a month-old platform. As many have been stuck at different destinations due to lockdown and some are with their children, we decided to bring them together on a platform through Navakaaya Pindivontalu. There are participants aged above 80 years joining us enthusiastically to share their age-old recipes and some of the preparations passed on to them by their grannies," explains Madhavi, who takes care of the anchoring part of the episodes.

Men evince enthusiasm

It is not just women who are showing keen interest in putting their preparations in the public domain. Men too evince enthusiasm in showcasing their culinary skills. G Praveen Kumar, a software employee settled in UK, exhibits his kitchen discoveries through Praveen's Kitchen on YouTube. Among his preparations, his multi-layered Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani garnered highest views. His uploads include authentic grandma's chicken curry, lentil stew (sambar) and potato snack. "I never expected such an encouraging response for my recipes. The uploads on YouTube will gradually increase in the coming days as the demand list has gone up among the viewers," shares Praveen.

With home-cooking gaining significance, many turn to social media platforms to share their preparations and receive feedback.