Serving up a coronavirus-themed menu: mask-shaped parottas, corona bondas and rava dosas

Wearing your mask to save yourself from coronavirus? Well, thanks to some creative chefs in a Madurai eatery, now you can wear your mask and eat it too.

Famed for its parottas, Madurai’s Hotel Temple City has created a coronavirus-themed menu that includes mask-shaped parottas to remind its customers about the need to practice safety measures amidst the pandemic.

For the enterprising chefs at Hotel Temple City, innovating and serving up theme-based items in its menu is not new.

Since the restaurant was launched in 2003, it has introduced more than 100 different types of dosas, including one called Tendulkar dosa in the shape of a cricket bat after veteran sportsman Sachin Tendulkar scored a century during a cricket match, Hotel Temple City's Managing Director KL Kumar tells YourStory.

"We love to experiment with our menu and come up with creative-themed food items. We have had over 101 varieties of dosas, including one inspired by the Rajnikanth movie Baba called the 'Baba Paneer Butter Masala Dosa'. These creative-themed dosas have helped us attract large crowds," KL Kumar tells Yourstory.

When news of the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Hotel Temple City created a bonda and rava dosa in the shape of the infamous coronavirus particle. The Madurai-based restaurant even created a complementary Ayurvedic herbal rasam, which is a tangy, spicy soup, to go with the meals.

While the coronavirus-themed South Indian menu is fodder for some much-needed humour in the current times, it is also spreading a powerful message to the masses, to stay protected, practise social distancing, and most importantly to wear a mask!

"The people in the city aren’t very particular about security measures such as wearing masks. That’s why we introduced mask-shaped parottas in our menu to create awareness to stay safe against COVID-19," KL Kumar explains.

The mask-shaped parottas, which are priced at Rs 50 a piece, have garnered a lot of interest, with the Hotel Temple City currently selling over 300 mask-shaped parottas a day, KL Kumar adds.

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Coronavirus-inspired food items have been making it to the menus of restaurants in other cities too. In Kolkata, famous for Indian sweets, people are buying ‘Corona Sandesh’ - a popular sweet dish that is being prepared with red spikes that resemble the virus.

Coronavirus-inspired cakes and burgers are also currently trending globally, as chefs get creative with mask- themed cupcakes, corona spike burgers, and mini cakes in the shape of toilet rolls. 

But whether you’re eating mask-shaped parottas, downing toilet roll-shaped cupcakes, or pining for some coronavirus-shaped desserts, the common message is clear: stay safe, stay healthy, and, above all, guard yourself against the coronavirus.

(Inputs from Induja Ragunathan; image credits: Hotel Temple City, Madurai)