The Mind of the Indian Foodie

A survey on what foodies think and what they want

Published: Jan 30, 2012

India may be known as the land of vegetarians. But our readers love their pound of flesh, literally,

Image by : Avinash Bhalerao

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India may be known as the land of vegetarians. But our readers love their pound of flesh, literally, with two-thirds eating meat — chicken and fi sh being the commonest choices — on a regular basis. A little less than one-fi fth are pure vegetarian while the rest supplement their veggies with eggs

Cooking topped the list here with almost everyone acknowledging they got their hands dirty in thekit

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Cooking topped the list here with almost everyone acknowledging they got their hands dirty in the
kitchen. Apart from that, reading about food and watching food shows on TV was on top. Discussing food, interestingly, was very popular. But here’s the whopper: More than 10 percent of our largely urban respondents actually grow some of the food they eat.

People talk. And everybody listens. Word of mouth is how most people learn about a new restaurant or

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People talk. And everybody listens. Word of mouth is how most people learn about a new restaurant or the fresh catch of the day at the local market. The Internet comes next, followed by newspapers and recipe books.

The local market has taken a severe beating when it comes to people in the socio-economic category o

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The local market has taken a severe beating when it comes to people in the socio-economic category of our readers. More than half of those who responded to our survey said they prefer shopping at the local supermarket, while a substantial number make the trek to the nearest hypermart

Seventy-four percent of our respondents eat out at least once or twice a week, presumably over weeke

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Seventy-four percent of our respondents eat out at least once or twice a week, presumably over weekends. Seven percent eat out over fi ve times a week. Hmmm… that’d be the single people living away from home, with no time, inclination or ability to cook for themselves

Surprise, surprise. Italian trumps Chinese as India’s favourite cuisine to dine out on. Punjab

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Surprise, surprise. Italian trumps Chinese as India’s favourite cuisine to dine out on. Punjabi comes in third, though we think this may be taken as an umbrella term for North Indian food

This follows from #3: When it comes to eating out, personal recommendations rule. But review sites,

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This follows from #3: When it comes to eating out, personal recommendations rule. But review sites, where customers can display their happiness/dissatisfaction, have a role to play too.

The fact that Italian leads the pack here could have something to do with the ubiquity of pizza-deli

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The fact that Italian leads the pack here could have something to do with the ubiquity of pizza-delivery chains, we believe. Chinese is the no-surprise second choice, but the presence of Afghani and Hyderabadi has us nonplussed, we confess. As astonishing is the recurrence of South Korean: Though it polled the least votes, we’re surprised it made a mark at all

The takeaway here: People don’t watch their wallets when it comes to a special date. Though ve

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The takeaway here: People don’t watch their wallets when it comes to a special date. Though very few of our respondents admitted to frequenting very high-end restaurants, the number of people willing to spend up to Rs. 2,000 on a meal for two should thrill restaurateurs no end

When it comes to tickling the sweet tooth, 42 percent of our respondents confessed to having a soft

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When it comes to tickling the sweet tooth, 42 percent of our respondents confessed to having a soft spot for desi mithai. Chocolates come next and only 20 percent opted for cakes

So you thought India was a tea-drinking nation? The number of people drinking tea and coff ee is spl

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So you thought India was a tea-drinking nation? The number of people drinking tea and coff ee is split almost evenly. Around 12 percent don’t drink either

Around half the people we surveyed are somewhat concerned with the amount of pollutants and chemical

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Around half the people we surveyed are somewhat concerned with the amount of pollutants and chemicals in our food today. Twelve percent didn’t care while 40 percent probably wouldn’t buy food with too many chemicals

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