An Indian menu reflects Indian cultural heritage, historical influences, and religious beliefs.
Over the years, Indian food has been shaped into unique, colorful, and multi-dimensional dishes. They are also known around the globe for their diverse range of foods, spices, cooking equipment, and cooking methods.
Indian food is an essential part of Indian culture. So, how do you give people the taste of India with your Indian food menu?
It will help if you establish a competitive edge over your competitors by relying on interactive restaurant QR code menu software. Doing so can give Indian cuisine the spotlight in the market.
Read more for more information about menu improvisation and promotional ideas.
What should you know about Indian food recipes?
Indian cuisine is as diverse as its population. Several factors have influenced Indian cuisine, making it unique and one of the most well-known in the world.
So, let’s get into details and see the information below to learn more about Indian cuisine.
Is Indian food healthy?
Indian food is not only famous for its superb taste but also for its nutritional benefits. A typical Indian dish is spiced with ingredients like turmeric, which boost the body’s immune system and inflammatory response.
In addition to the Indians’ religious beliefs, non-vegetarians highly favor lamb, chicken, and fish, which are high in protein, as part of their diet. This makes dairy products such as cheese and yogurt notable in the ingredients of many foods, which is good for cardiovascular health.
Also, there are healthy vegan options like samosa, rajma, masala dosa, and others packed with nutrients.
What are the influences that shaped Indian cuisine?
India’s cuisine is widely regarded as among the most diverse in the world. To know how Indian cuisine has been shaped over the years, take a look at the following factors:
The religions of India have had a significant impact on Indian cuisine. As a result, the vegan diet of India’s Hindus, Buddhists, and Jain communities strongly influences Indian cuisine.
About 40% of the population follows a strict vegetarian diet. This makes vegetarian food recipes widespread in all of India.
Another factor is the foreign influences brought by traders, pilgrims, and invaders over the decades.
One significant influence is the Portuguese invasion, where they introduced a variety of ingredients such as chilies, peppers, tomatoes, and cashew nuts, which have become a must-have for Indian cuisine today.
Every region of India’s landscape and climate varies, which determines the kind of food they eat. In the northern region, spiced dishes are usually eaten, which include chilies and ghee. While in the southern part of India, they basically follow a tropical diet, including vegetables and fruits.
In the eastern part, fish and rice are a common part of their diet. Lastly, the western Indian region has rice as its staple food, and they use more dairy products and vegetables in their food.
Plant-based Indian dishes you can include in your menu
Since the majority of the Indian population follows a vegetarian diet, several of their recipes are plant-based. These dishes have positive effects on your body with their nutritional benefits.
For the customer’s healthier option, you may consider the following list of Indian vegan recipes:
Chana masala
Eating this basmati rice lowers the risk of heart disease. This can be a healthy option for people with diabetes.
How to make an enticing and profitable Indian menu with MENU TIGER
Your menu is more than just a list of food options. It is a vital internal advertising tool that will give diners a taste of a dish with their eyes. For this reason, you need to have a powerful menu to attract the customer’s attention.
Give your menu a life with these following hacks:
Write a good food description
How to write an effective food description? A good food description will sell your dish.
In writing your food description, it should be clear, concise, and use descriptive words that stimulate the senses.
For example, to describe a piece of meat, you can use descriptive words like tender, lean, cooked, etc.
Ensure that as the customers read your menu, it will make them hungry and accelerate their appetite.
Also read: How to write menu descriptions on your digital menu
Add mouthwatering photos of the dish
Including images of your dish will give diners a first look at how the dish looks right before they arrive at their table. Moreover, you can communicate the taste of the food with a perfectly captured image of your most delicious food item.
The interactive restaurant software with MENU TIGER allows you to add three photos to your menu items. Ensure that the images you include are high-definition, preferably 400px by 300px.
This feature will help you give customers visual stimulation, which can be an effective way to entice anyone who sees them.
Use the right color schemes
Did you know that colors affect the customers’ feelings? Thus, it impacts their ordering decisions.
Using MENU TIGER’s QR code menu, you can customize your menu based on your brand’s personality. To stimulate customers’ appetites, use the colors red, yellow, orange, and blue.
Moreover, you can customize the colors of your QR code. Remember to use contrasting colors for the background and foreground when creating your QR code to avoid scanning problems.
Label the food item
Label your food items as “Bestseller,” “New,” and “Sold out” to keep customers up to date.
Food labeling leaves an impression on customers. For example, if customers see a food item labeled “Best Seller” or “Sold Out,” they will believe that the dish is delicious because most diners prefer to have them.
This might remind them to order those dishes the next time they dine at your restaurant. As a result, it can increase your sales and profit.
How to be profitable with your Indian menu with MENU TIGER
The restaurant industry is competitive, so how do you drive customers to dine at your place?
Restaurants must engage customers and form relationships with them to gain loyalty. With that in mind, the suggestions below might help you with your goal.
Feature high margin items on your restaurant’s website
If you want customers to notice and buy food items with high margins immediately, you can highlight them on your restaurant website.
Remember, the menu item you will highlight doesn’t necessarily have to be pricey. Thus, you can highlight low-cost food items as long as they have a high-profit margin.
To do this, follow these steps:
Go to the MENU TIGER dashboard and click Menu.
Under Menu , click Food, then choose a category.
After that, see the food list to be featured.
Click the Edit icon beside the food item.
Under Edit food, scroll halfway down, then tick the box beside Featured.
Lastly, scroll to the bottom and click the Update button.
Add modifiers and add-ons
There isn’t any easy way to generate extra income other than upselling menu items with high-profit margins. To do this, you can use the add-ons feature of MENU TIGER.
For example, on your Indian menu, you can have vegetarian appetizers like Veggie Samosa, Aloo Tikki, Dal kabab, and Mushroom Pakora.
Moreover, you can offer vegan side dishes to your menu like aloo paratha, green coriander chutney, mango chutney, malpuas etc.
Having add-ons helps you sell a wide range of products, maximizing the total check size of your customers.
Read more: Adding choices and add-ons to your online menu using MENU TIGER
Send out promotional emails and SMS
Send out email promotions and SMS to reach more customers. You can include them in your special events, promotions, and discounts to entice customers to place a pick-up order on your restaurant website or even visit your restaurant.
In your promotional emails and SMS, you can make them personalized. For example, on your customer’s birthday, you can wish them a happy birthday and offer them discounts for their meal or give them a free glass of red wine.
With MENU TIGER, you can easily target an audience for your email campaigns with the customers’ databases.
Read more: MENU TIGER: How to set up promotions using a menu QR code software
Social media promotions
Keep an active social channel to inform customers of current promotions.
For example, you can post on your social media that there will be an upcoming Buy 1 Take One promotion to celebrate your restaurant’s anniversary.
You can have accounts on popular social media platforms like Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can create a single QR code for your social media channels that customers can scan to be directed to your social media.
With social media promotions, you can build your brand, maximize your customer base, and increase your social media followers.
Offer loyalty programs
Given the competitive nature of the restaurant industry, offering a loyalty program can help you retain customers. One of the most popular customer loyalty programs you can offer is the referral program.
With word-of-mouth, they can tell others about how good your restaurant’s food and service were. They can invite their close friends or loved ones to dine at your restaurant.
In short, your existing customers will represent your restaurant as your brand advocates. This is a great way to entice more customers to visit your restaurant.
How to put side dishes for your Indian menu items with MENU TIGER
Don’t forget to give your Indian food balance and color with side dishes. With MENU TIGER, you can easily add side dishes to your menu items by following these steps:
1. Open your MENU TIGER account
