Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or WhatsApp - wherever you go, the virtual aroma can be sensed. This lockdown season, everyone seems to be smitten by the Internet's favourite beverage Dalgona coffee. The current pandemic having denied people spaces to socialise, a simple frothy coffee has united people who stay indoors offering them a culinary distraction from the gloomy crisis. And a lot has been happening over a coffee!

Thanks to its popularity during the COVID-19 season, Dalgona coffee is also known as Quarantine Coffee, has become the favourite pastime of netizens who have found their perfect chill pill to bring down the heat. Named after a South Korean toffee, a spongy candy made of melted sugar and baking soda. Several videos, clips and photographs of the fluffy layered coffee have emerged and what makes it special is its simple preparation, handy ingredients, uniqueness and its photogenic quality.

“And the time. It takes just five minutes to prepare Dalgona coffee,” says Deepa Sandeep, a Doha-based YouTuber, who prepared Dalgona coffee with her son Adithya.

“Those who love Latte and Cappuccino would definitely love Dalgona coffee. There’s a bitterness to it. If someone wants to tone it down, they can reduce the coffee powder and add more sugar. Those who like espresso too will like the taste,” she says.

Just three major ingredients are required to prepare Dalgona coffee – instant coffee, milk and sugar. Whipped to cloudy frith and served in coloured layers, the coffee has similarity to Indian Fenti Hui, where the beaten frothy caffeine mix is topped by milk. Dalgona coffee, on the other hand, is reverse Fenti Hui – a Korean twist to desi coffee!

Dr Vijith Narayana, a Kochi-based dentist, came to know of the coffee trend from Instagram and soon, decided to give it a try during the lockdown period. A photography enthusiast, he didn’t forget to record mouth-watering clicks of his culinary experiment. “I love cooking and it was an interesting activity to blend both my passions in Dalgona coffee. The ingredients were all at home and there was nothing to be specially bought. I prepared the cold coffee version; it was quite refreshing and my wife and kid loved it. Me too,” he adds.

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Deepa says the coffee can be prepared in three ways – using hand blenders, or by whisking or using shakers. “They key is to get the perfect creamy texture. When added to chilled milk, layers are formed. When my son prepared the first version, we went by the correct ingredients, but for the second batch, we experimented. But it all went well,” she says.

Improvised variations of the beverage with spruced up ingredients, addition of cocoa or cinnamon or vanilla or egg whites also feature in the trending #dalgonacoffeechallenge. The iced coffee has got a piping hot variant too.

The most popular video of Dalgona coffee is made by Korean YouTuber J’adore, who has earned close to 88 lakh views for his Dalgona coffee preparation video

Recipe of the most popular beverage of the season.

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