The shortage of green chilli is the talk of the town these days. Like in all the districts, residents of Thimphu are also fuming over the shortage since chillies form an integral part of the Bhutanese cuisine. However, the Agriculture Minister says people need to change the dietary habit of consuming too much chilli to address the shortage.
No Bhutanese dishes are complete without the hot spice. But these days, residents in the capital are having less spicy meals since green chillies ran out of stock for over a month now.
The dearth of green chillies is usually felt more around this time of the year when the local production is limited. And with limited supply, the hot spice is burning the pockets of the consumers.
“I once got small green chillies for Nu 500 per kilogram. Later it soared to Nu 800. So we have resorted to dried chillies,” said Samten, a resident of Thimphu.
“It has been almost two months since green chillies ran out of stock in the market. During the lockdown, even getting dried chillies was difficult,” added Dorji Tshering.
Vegetable vendors shared that getting green chillies from the source has become scarce due to limited production.
“I managed to get some 20 kilograms of small green chillies recently. I divided five kgs each for some of us. But that stock got exhausted in no time,” said Tshering Choki, said a vendor at Changbangdu Vegetable Market.
“Customers prefer green chillies to dried chillies. But when they learn that the stock is not available here, they get frustrated. But from our side too, we are helpless,” added Santa Maya Gurung, also a vendor.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister said the supply of green chillies is expected to gain momentum from next month since local chillies will hit the markets in the country.
Lyonpo said farmers have produced substantial quantities of green chillies over the past one year but the consumption pattern of Bhutanese makes it difficult for the supply to sustain in the market.
“We are not short of green chillies. The only thing is we need to be careful with the consumption pattern. In our food culture, we consume a substantial amount of chilli. We are so lavish in consuming chilli, we have chilli curry, we have chilli ezay and then again people want to consume chilli with salt. In such nature obviously, supply will not meet the demand,” said Yeshey Penjor, the Agriculture Minister.
Lyonpo said it is high time people should weigh the nutritional value of chillies and change the dietary habits.
Meanwhile, the ban on the import of green chillies from India is still in place. The ban was imposed in 2016 after the government found that imported chillies contain chemicals beyond the permissible limit.
Choni Dema
