The war in Iran was always going to creep up on India, the world’s second-largest destination for oil exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Surprisingly, the biggest immediate impact has been on popular dishes like dosa and dal makhani. State-owned refiners are forced to eat their losses to keep trucks and tractors moving, but commercial kitchens are starting to crater under a severe shortage of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG.

In the 1973 energy shock, India's industry leaned on coal, but its homes relied on the erratic availability of liquid fuels. LPG cylinders were a rationed luxury and all middle-class families had kerosene stoves. The situation has flipped now: Buses, taxis and kitchens have switched to some form of gas to curb pollution. But unlike oil, which can be stored in rock caverns, gas requires super-cooled tanks or pressurized vessels. India’s storage buffer is thin, and therein lies the germ of the current crisis.

Under the Essential Commodities Act, the government has prioritized household cylinders, but commercial supplies have seized up. Restaurants are unable to serve foods requiring continuous high-energy cooking. In the southern city of Hyderabad, the seasonal Ramadan delicacy of haleem — a meat-and-grain porridge requiring hours of slow cooking — is still on the menu because it is prepared in traditional wood-fired kilns. But even there, kitchens are struggling to fry the onions that........

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