From butter chicken to paneer makhani, Indian cuisine is unthinkable without the ubiquitous tomato.

But the culinary staple is now off the menu at homes and restaurants across the country after prices soared by more than 400% due to crop failures following scorching heat waves and heavy rains, according to farmers and agriculture experts.

A kilogram of tomatoes sold in the capital New Delhi this week cost 138 rupees (US$1.68), a startling fivefold jump from the 27 rupees recorded in January, according to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Asha, a homemaker in the capital who asked to be referred to only by her first name, said the increase has hit her seven-member family hard. She uses tomatoes in almost every dish she makes.

“Tomatoes are an integral part of our vegetarian diet … [but] these past couple of days, I am conscious about what I am cooking because it’s so expensive.”

Asha’s family isn’t the only ones affected. Some of McDonald’s restaurants across the country have temporarily stopped serving tomatoes on their burgers, citing quality issues and shortages of supply.

Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which manages the McDonald’s franchises in the north and east of India, placed signs outside impacted restaurants saying they were “not able to get adequate quantities of tomatoes which pass our world-class stringent quality checks.”

Photos of the notices were circulated widely on social media, including by Raghav Chadha, a member of parliament.

“Even McDonald’s can’t afford tomatoes anymore,” Chadha wrote on Twitter. “Be it in our homes or restaurants, with inflation spiraling out of control, the government has turned happy meals into sad meals.”

A driving factor behind the current shortage of tomatoes is extreme weather associated with climate change, said Jocelyn Boiteau, a post doctoral associate at the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition.

Blistering temperatures have engulfed India and other parts of Asia in recent weeks. Globally, last week saw the hottest temperature ever recorded, according to data from two climate tracking agencies that covered multiple decades.

India often experiences heatwaves during the summer months of May and June, but in recent years, they have arrived earlier and become more prolonged. Only a few regions in India’s south have suitable conditions for growing tomatoes during the summer months, so any climate-related issues in those areas can have a national-level impact on the supply of fresh tomatoes.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【主妇】zhǔfù homemaker one who manages a household especially as a spouse and parent

【热浪】rèlàng heatwave a period of unusually hot weather

从黄油鸡到番茄黄油浓汤，印度菜离不开无处不在的番茄。

但农民和农业专家说，由于热浪和暴雨导致作物歉收，番茄价格飙升了4倍以上，现在全国各地的家庭和餐馆都断供番茄了。

根据消费者事务部的数据，本周在首都新德里出售的一公斤西红柿的价格为138卢比（1.68美元），比1月份暴涨了五倍，当时只需27卢比。

首都的一位家庭主妇阿莎说番茄价格上涨对她的七口之家打击很大。她几乎每做一道菜都要用到番茄。

“番茄是我们餐桌不可或缺的一部分......[但是]这几天，我对用什么食材很小心，因为番茄太贵了。”

受影响的不仅仅是阿莎一家。一些麦当劳餐厅以质量问题和供应短缺为由，暂时停止在汉堡里加番茄。

康诺特广场餐饮公司管理着印度北部和东部的麦当劳，他们在受影响的餐厅外贴出告示，称“因为公司严格的质量要求，无法采购到足够数量的番茄”。

这些告示被拍成照片在社交媒体上广为流传。国会议员拉加夫•查达发推特说：“连麦当劳都买不起番茄了。随着通货膨胀失控，无论是在家里吃饭还是上餐馆，政府已将欢聚一餐变成了悲伤一餐。”

塔塔•康奈尔农业与营养研究所的博士后乔斯林•博伊托说，目前番茄短缺的一个驱动因素是气候变化导致的极端天气。

最近几周，印度和亚洲其他地区天气炙热。根据两家气候跟踪机构几十年来的数据，上周全球气温达到有记录以来的最高值。

印度常在夏季5、6月出现热浪，但近年来，热浪来得更早，持续时间更长。

只有印度南部几个地区夏季适合番茄生长，因此这些地区出现任何与气候相关的问题都会对新鲜番茄的供应产生全国性影响。(SD-Agencies)