LUCKNOW, March 14 -- Restaurant owners, hoteliers and those running other food outlets have reduced their LPG usage by choosing alternative cooking fuels and cutting the menu, especially live counters. Others are watching for signs of the situation returning to normal.

At Clarks Awadh, banquet-based cooking focuses on slow-cooked food like biryani, dal makhani, kebab smoking and mutton prepared using wood fire, while induction ovens are used for fulfilling a la carte orders.

"For banquets, we have shut our live counters which offer delicacies like tikki, kebab, pasta and dal tadka while some dishes like galouti have been transferred to electric and pan-based cooking. The unavailability of (commercial) LPG cylinders will affect the guest...