Dreaming of tomatoes and lemons? Chefs tell us how to reduce grocery bills and cook thriftily during inflation

How does one cook a regular meal with the prices of kitchen staples rising by the day? It is almost impossible to avoid using tomatoes, an integral part of India's diverse cuisine, but its price has been oscillating between Rs 60 and Rs 80 per kilo. But Indians are known to find cheaper ways to achieve the same results and things are no different in the kitchen. To help beat the food inflation blues, we invited home and restaurant chefs to part with their favourite thrifty cooking hacks.

With inflation at an all-time high, cooking daily meals on a budget means one will have to sit down and work out how they can afford ingredients or find alternatives for them. Keeping this in mind, city chefs have shared their favourite substitutes for daily staples, hacks for using affordable produce as a stand-in for exotic ingredients, as well as tips to make supplies last longer.

Turn around those tomatoes
While city-based Kashmiri home chef Jasleen Marwah says the easiest way to dodge its rising price would be to avoid making curries that use tomatoes, she understands the importance it holds in Indian cuisine and has a solution for houses where it is a staple. Marwah, who runs the delivery kitchen Namak Swaad Anusaar says, "The easiest alternative for tomatoes is using curd or imli (tamarind) while cooking. They provide the sourness required for the curries and aren't needed in large quantities too." She also suggests drying tomatoes in the sun or dehydrating them in the oven and storing those as a backup for when prices rise. "Dried tomatoes once cooked provide a good volume to the dish and can be stored for a long time. I also roast the tomatoes, grind them and make a powder out of that to use later," she adds.

While flavour is paramount for Marwah, chef Parvez Khan, head chef and co-founder at Fort-based Wakai, also dwells on getting the texture right. He says one can simply use pumpkin instead of tomatoes along with some tomato paste for a makhani gravy. It will not only retain the flavour but also the texture of the dish. In fact, chef Ankita Khialani at The Tavern by The Liquor Store says that pumpkins can also be used instead of a more exotic ingredient like zucchini. "Given the texture, pumpkin is a great alternative for zucchini. Pumpkins can be used in soups and they give a perfect balance of sweetness to any dish." The fact that its seeds are packed with protein and healthy fats, says Khialani, means that they can be used in salads too.

Go bananas
It is hard to not talk about onions and potatoes. While they may not be that expensive right now, their prices do fluctuate from time to time. Since they form an important part of Indian cuisine, Marwah says she also makes use of asafoetida as it tastes similar to onion and garlic and can help when there is a price rise. On the other hand, Khan, says one can use raw bananas instead of potatoes, as they are not only comparatively cheaper but also have a similar taste to the tuber.

Bananas are clearly versatile because they can be used to mimic more than one flavour and texture. While Khan suggests using the raw variety instead of potatoes, chef Prakash Pradhan with pan-Asian restaurant Yazu in Goa says the ripe variety can actually be used instead of avocado for those who can't live without that expensive fruit. "Thanks to the banana's texture, it's the perfect substitute for creamy avocados. Like avocados, bananas offer smoothies with a smooth texture and consistency. And they even deliver a perfect dash of added sweetness," he explains.

Easy flavour swaps
For a lavish meal, using pine nuts may not always be possible but luckily there are other nuts that one can use to keep the flavour intact, Pradhan and Khialani agree that using almonds or cashew nuts is ideal. Now, cashew is known to be expensive, so one can consider using peanuts instead because they give a boost of flavour to dishes. As far as using lemons go, Marwah suggests using a nimbu phool powder, which is easily available, as it is cheaper and that she personally swears by it in her kitchen. Otherwise, one can also use vinegar, even though she isn't personally a fan of it, as it can also help preserve the dish for a longer time.

Saving for a rainy day
While the alternatives are always helpful, there are other ways that one can cook on a budget. While skipping ingredients may seem like the ideal way to do it, Khan, suggests going back to the basics. He says, "Buying ingredients in bulk which might cost less and dehydrating them in the oven or freezing them can help for them to be used for a longer period of time. Fresh herbs like coriander, basil, mint, thyme can be homegrown and be used as fresh ingredients for a long period of time."

Like Khan, Marwah believes in storing food, one that she religiously follows in her home as a practice and it simply helps to beat price rise. Bottles of tomato paste and onion paste are always found in her home. "Using a few spoons of onion paste when needed is helpful because while the asafoetida gives the taste, this will help give volume to the curry similar to what is usually obtained from using fresh onions," she explains.

As the prices of necessary ingredients rise, there are many different alternatives that one can use to beat it. It may seem like a daunting task but city chefs believe there are several ways to do it and one of the ways is to go back to the basics or what suits the palate best.