New Delhi: Due to the ongoing strike by meat sellers in Uttar Pradesh (UP), non-vegetarian food outlets, including the famous Rahim’s and Tunday Kababi, have shifted to chicken and mutton dishes instead of buffalo meat delicacies.
“Our speciality is beef (buffalo meat) kebabs and people come here from all over the world to taste it. Last week, our shop was closed for a day. We reopened it with a change. We are now selling kebabs made out of chicken and mutton for the first time. We have put stickers all over the place about the change in the recipe of our kebabs,” Tunday Kababi’s owner Abu Bakr told Gulf News.
The closure of slaughterhouses has a ripple effect on eateries selling cooked preparations.
“While this crackdown against illegal meat shops might or might not help the new government’s drive against cow smuggling in Uttar Pradesh, it is a huge let-down for foodies and tourists who want a taste of nawabi (royal) culture of Lucknow. When buffalo meat is not available, how can we make our famous kababs? People still come to us looking for it but go back disappointed,” Zahid Khan, chef at Rahim’s, told Gulf News.
Other outlets known for their non-vegetarian delicacies are also facing similar problem since the crackdown on slaughterhouses and meat selling shops started.
“A number of small eateries and food carts across the state have gone out of business. It is not feasible for a small operator to attain all clearances from the administration. As a matter of fact, I have not seen such scarcity of raw meat in the last 35 years that we have been in business,” Mohammad Kashif, owner of Al Noor Dhaba on National Highway 24, told Gulf News.
“Meat items are flying off the menu from a majority of eateries in Uttar Pradesh as a host of abattoirs have been forced to shut shop. The Muslim-dominated western parts of the state are among the worst affected. The government does not seem to have any consolidated plan to deal with the crisis,” he added.
Mohammad Akhlaq, owner of Shahban Dhaba in Lucknow, said the last seven days had been a nightmare.
“This is worse than the demonetisation drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our hotel has a daily consumption of 40-55 kg of buffalo meat that was earlier available in slaughterhouses locally. Now we are purchasing it from Ghaziabad at Rs180-190 per kg, which is Rs40 higher than earlier,” Akhlaq told Gulf News.
