New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Tuesday urged its members to reduce LPG consumption by focusing on menus that require lower gas usage or shorter cooking cycles and also look at electric gadgets as alternatives for cooking wherever feasible.

“The ongoing geopolitical developments have led to severe disruption in the supply chain of commercial LPG. If the situation escalates further and availability tightens significantly, the restaurant industry may face serious operational challenges,” the NRAI said in an advisory to restaurant owners across the country.

“In order to safeguard business continuity, employment, and the stability of our sector, NRAI urges all members to immediately adopt these fuel conservation and operational continuity measures,” the advisory states.

The advisory urges restaurants to adopt immediate fuel conservation measures that include prioritising dishes that use less gas, or shorter cooking cycles, and temporarily scaling back items that involve long simmering, deep frying, or multiple burners.

It also asks the restaurant owners to disable pilot flames on gas ranges and equipment when not in use, and reduce gas usage during non-peak hours by consolidating prep and cooking schedules.

Besides, they have been urged to go for batch cooking wherever possible instead of multiple small cooking cycles, use lids while cooking to retain heat and reduce fuel consumption, and use pressure cooking wherever possible to shorten cooking time. They have also been asked to temporarily reduce menu complexity to streamline kitchen operations.

Pre-soaking ingredients like rice, grains, and legumes to reduce cooking time, avoiding keeping burners on standby during slow service hours, and using the right-sized burner for the utensil to avoid flame wastage are some of the other measures that have been suggested.

Restaurateurs have also been encouraged to adopt temporary alternatives such as induction cooking equipment, electric griddles and electric fryers, combi ovens and convection ovens and electric rice cookers and steamers to reduce dependence on LPG during the current crisis.

–IANS

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