Screengrab from Tasty UK video.
Food brings people closer. And in this particular case, it has brought citizens of two countries together.
When a Twitter account, going by the name of ‘Tasty UK’, posted its own rendition of the beloved chicken korma, the desi Twitteratti from India and Pakistan were not at all happy.
The now-viral video made some people barf and some furious about ruining the world-famous korma, a recipe that’s a favourite among both Indians and Pakistanis.
Let’s take a closer look.
‘An abomination’
The video, captioned ‘One-pot Chicken Korma’ accompanied with the heart eyes emoji, starts off as a normal cooking tutorial and given the popularity of chicken korma, it was bound to attract viewers.
But there was something wrong with the caption itself. The word ‘One-pot’ made many sceptical about the authenticity of the recipe and as people watched on, the nightmare began.
This ‘whitewashed’ version of chicken korma uses unusual ingredients like spinach, raisins, uncooked basmati rice and pine nuts, among others.
The video began with the chef frying sliced onions and diced garlic in a frying pan before adding chicken breasts, tomatoes and a few tablespoons of korma paste. Following this, after all the raw ingredients are mixed together, the chef adds uncooked basmati rice to the same pan with one chicken stock cube. The raisins are added before all the ingredients are boiled together for almost 10 minutes.
The dish is then garnished with yoghurt, pine nuts and coriander.
The 55-second-long video invited a lot of criticism from people who claimed this is no way of cooking a dish that has a long history and carries a lot of sentiment.
One user said, “You have united India and Pakistan with one post. What abomination are you preparing in the name of korma?”
A journalist, Yunus Lasania, demanded the Kohinoor diamond back after watching the tutorial. He said, “What the hell is this? Rice? Even after colonizing us you can’t cook out food. Definitely need Kohinoor back.”
The tweet by Tasty UK has brought together Indian and Pakistani users who share the history and legacy of chicken korma.
The history of Chicken Korma
Chicken korma has a rich history that goes back to the Mughal period. The word ‘korma’ is derived from the Urdu word gorma which translates to braise – a cooking technique that uses slow frying in a closed container.
The dish is made with meat, yoghurt, stock and a variety of spices which are stirred together to produce a thick sauce.
In the Indian subcontinent, chicken korma was introduced by the Mughals. The recipe was famous in Mughal kitchens and is said to have been served to emperor Shah Jahan and his guests at the inauguration celebration of Taj Mahal.
According to a report by Scroll, food historian Neha Vermani wrote, “In the Mughal context, the earliest reference to qorma which I am aware of, comes from aristocratic cookbooks produced during Shah Alam’s reign.”
Dishes that have created a stir in the past
In 2020, during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, a lot of people took up cooking and baking to kill time including former football player David Beckham.
While fans were impressed by his culinary skills, Beckham’s rendition of the famous Shephard’s Pie had left many divided, according to a report by Hello Magazine.
Posting a video of the dish on his Instagram account he wrote, “Another controversial coleslaw moment with shepherd’s pie.” The pie in the video was covered with Bisto Gravy – a ready-to-cook gravy available in jars – with a side of sweet corn.
Reacting to David’s dinner one Twitter user said, “I can’t stop looking at the absolute car crash occurring on David Beckham’s dinner plate.”
Back in 2016, a food magazine named Bon App?tit, put out the recipe of a Filipino refresher called ‘Halo-Halo’. The recipe included mashed blueberries and blackberries, lime juice, coconut milk, gummy bears and even popcorn.
Many readers took to Twitter to call the recipe a “desecration”, “disgusting” and “Christopher Columbus recipe”.
With inputs from agencies
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