Smokin hot

Indians are embracing the American barbecue and splurging on ribs, rubs and grilling paraphernalia,
finds Yoshita Sengupta
Pic courtesy: Kunal Chandra
Chef Sarabjit
Singh conducts a barbecue masterclass in Bangalore
go gourmet
Every evening, Ushma Agaral grills fresh fish on a Presto hot stone barbecue she bought during one of her tri!s to the
United States in her villa"s #itchen for her develo!er husband $atin% At times, she even grills chic#en to add to a
comforting risotto% &e't, she !lans to install a ood fire oven in her #itchen% (he cou!le do not live in a !ictures)ue
*rench ton% (hey are residents of +undha, a Pune suburb, and are one of several thousand ,ndian families that are
fast embracing the barbecue%
-(hey"re .barbecue grills/ becoming a standard feature in most contem!orary #itchens in big homes% All clients e build
homes for in Pune as# for in0built modular #itchens, hich no includes a grill,1 says Ushma, director of Konar# Karia
Builders%
As# her if, as a develo!er, she has seen a similar trend in +umbai and the re!ly is affirmative% -+umbai is too hot to be
barbecuing everyday% 2oever, a lot of the !ro!erties in the city do have a set0u! for grilling%1
-+y sister lives in .3aheja/ 4ne, Altamount road, here there are 5,666 and 7666 s)ft homes% All of them have a
barbecue,1 she adds%
8ho else is grilling9
(he trend may have !ic#ed u! first in the homes of ,ndia"s rich but the groing middle class is also fast ta#ing to grills,
es!ecially in Bangalore and :elhi% ,n Bangalore, once almost every to ee#s, chefs Sarabjit Singh and *aseeulla S
host ;< coo#ing enthusiasts for an entire day and teach them ho to coo# a fi'ed menu .called cha!ters/ on a grill% (he
lessons begin ith something as basic as ho to light u! charcoal ithout using !etrol, setting u! a barbecue ith a
arm and a hot section to coo# the meats evenly to ma#ing gourmet sauces and the rubs for the meat and even ti!s on
cleaning u! after%
(he cha!ters, hich began =7 months ago, started ith about si' to seven !eo!le signing u!% (oday, Singh ends u!
cutting off the entries at ;<% Sometimes, due to !o!ular demand, he has even had to re!eat certain cha!ters to
accommodate more !eo!le% -+ost of our clients come from the booming u!!er middle class and middle class ,(
!rofessionals in Bangalore% (hey are ell travelled and are e'tremely comfortable buying a barbecue set u! for anything
beteen 3s;6,6660>6,666,1 says Singh%
Smo#e signal
(he sudden !o!ularity of barbecued cuisine is a result of groing !o!ularity and vieershi! of +asterchef Australia and
other celebrity coo#ing shos on lifestyle channels li#e (?C and *o' (raveller, an increasing number of restaurants
introducing gourmet cuisine to ,ndians and a change of !alate of the urban, ell0travelled business and e'ecutive class%
-Peo!le are moving on from chic#en ti##a% (hey are discovering ne meats and are no able to understand different
cuts li#e cho!s, belly, and ribs% A lot of !eo!le investing their time and money in barbecues do it because it"s a lifestyle
statement% (hey ant to eat healthy yet delicious food and ant to be able to !ull off hat they atch on television,1 says
Singh%
As# Ushma hy she invested so much time and money into gourmet grilled cuisine and her res!onse is similar to that of
Singh"s% -, honestly started coo#ing international cuisine after atching +asterchef on television% Also, my husband
travels a lot and he !refers eating subtle, less s!icy and less oily gourmet Euro!ean cuisine over ,ndian food,1 she says%
8ho is cashing in9
(he result of this change in lifestyle choices has resulted in
booming sales for #itchen e)ui!ment businesses in the country%
Several big international !layers li#e 8eber, an American com!any that is the biggest name in barbecue e)ui!ment
around the orld, have set u! stores across ,ndia%
A year ago, based on customer interactions, the team at online s!ecialty store @ansaar%com realised there as an
increasing demand for barbecues grills, sauces, rubs, meat tenderisers and other grilling related items% After initial
research, the team decided to stoc# !roducts to cater to the grilling needs of a niche audience% -(he initial results ere
!henomenal and it gave us the confidence to treat this as a dedicated category% Since e"ve started the section, e have
been seeing an increase of more than =66A )uarter on )uarter% And the sales have been on a consistent u!ard
trajectory, contradicting out on assum!tions that it might be a seasonal activity,1 says $idesh 2aridas, head of
mar#eting, @ansaar%com%
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