Chennai: When 2020 has given the world COVID-19, “turn it into an opportunity and create awareness via food” is the mantra of KL Kumar, a Madurai-based hotelier. His Temple City hotel has innovated their existing dishes and are presenting them in line with the current trend. Mask Parottas, Corona-shaped Dosas, Bondas and a new herbal concoction are the latest offerings on their menu since July 7 morning.
Over the last week or so, the Madurai district has been seeing a rapid spike in COVID-19 cases, with over 300 new cases being reported daily. The district has also been under intense lockdown since the last week of June. Amid these tough times, hotelier Kumar thought of giving their dishes a twist while also creating awareness among the public. And what better dish to start with than the iconic Parotta that Madurai is renowned for.
“From yesterday morning we have started selling these new dishes and they are available for take-away only, because of the current government restrictions. We didn’t expect that they would go viral in a day. We hope to revive the business as the last few months have hit us really hard,” said KL Kumar who owns the chain of Temple City Hotels.
He adds that innovating with dishes is nothing new for them. Kumar recalls offering a bat-shaped dosa after Sachin Tendulkar scored 100 tons and also a ‘Rasi-dosa’ that was made from ingredients said to be suitable to one’s astrology. “Our idea is to create a small impact and awareness via the food the we serve," he said.
Besides these innovative eatables that are sold for Rs 50 (for a set of 2), the hotel also offers a complimentary 'herbal rasam' with some of their dishes. They claim that it helps people build immunity. “Usually during the lockdown we have a demand for only 50 sets of parottas, but now the demand has shot up nearly ten times. Parottas are generally sought after at night, but now the demand is high even from the morning,” said Kumar.
While the quirky cuisine has brought about a big spike in sales at his branch in the Mattuthavani market area, he hopes to offer these dishes across his chain of 12 hotels in Madurai once the lockdown eases.
