Home chefs log onto Google for samosa, jalebis, pani puri recipes

With neighbourhood mithai shops shut because of COVID-19 lockdown, people have donned the chef's hat to make samosas, momos, jalebis and even golgappas at home with the help of the Internet.

According to Google search trends, recipe related searches hit a new record high, peaking on Sunday, April 19. The data showed searches for 'Chicken momo recipe' spiked 4,350 per cent, while that for 'Mango icecream recipe' rose 3,250 per cent in April.

Dalgona coffee - which became an online sensation as people shared photographs and videos of their creation on social media channels - saw a spike of 5,000 per cent on how to make the drink. Interestingly, while cake topped the search tally for recipes during the month, people also looked for instructions around how to make samosa, jalebi, momos, dhokla, pani puri, dosa and paneer dishes. Coronavirus was the third most searched topic in India during April - behind film and meaning that are consistently highly searched topics in the country.

However, compared with search interest in cricket - which is also a highly searched topic - coronavirus-related searches in the month were more than four times that of the average monthly volume for cricket. The state with the highest search interest in April was from Meghalaya, followed by Tripura and Goa, the data showed. Top trending searches included Coronavirus tips, Coronavirus prevention and lockdown as people searched for things like 'new guidelines for lockdown' and 'how to get e-pass in lockdown'.

While there were questions like 'will lockdown extend after 3 May' and 'Is AC safe during coronavirus', people also sought answers to queries like 'How Kerala controlled coronavirus', 'How to wash vegetables coronavirus' and 'When will lockdown end in India'.