Hyderabad, Oct. 2 -- The prolonged spell of hot weather is changing the street-food habits of Hyderabad, with ice cream and ice gola vendors reporting a rise in demand as residents look for relief from the heat.

Across several residential colonies, vendors said sales of chilled treats had picked up, particularly during the evenings. The increase has come at the expense of seasonal items such as sweet corn, which normally finds more buyers between August and October.

"We usually sell sweet corn from August to October, but this year the heat has affected its demand. People are preferring ice creams instead," said Sunil, a vendor.

Another vendor, Manoj, said the difference in demand was noticeable. "People are asking for ice creams and ic...