Ahead of the much-awaited US Elections 2020, Twitter was taken by surprise when the desi comfort food 'paneer tikka' started trending on the micro-blogging site alongside topics like #DonaldTrump, #JoeBiden #USElection et al. This came after Pramila Jayapal, an Indian-American Congresswoman, posted a picture on her Twitter handle and mentioned paneer tikka to be her "comfort food" and a "compulsive, night-before-election activity". She further wrote that this dish was made in honour of Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. For the uninitiated, Harris, in a recent video on Twitter, revealed that "any kind of tikka" is one of her favourite Indian foods.
However, going by the Twitter thread, it seems Jayapal's version of Paneer Tikka failed to impress the Twitterers. While a traditional tikka is dry and roasted, the picture she tweeted was of a gravy-based dish. Let's take a look at the tweet:
Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That's paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing #KamalaHarris Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka! Let's go, people! VOTE! #BidenHarris2020pic.twitter.com/gqyT7BotgG— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) November 3, 2020
Several people instantly took to their Twitter handle to criticise Jayapal's post and called the dish an 'awfully wrong recipe'. Some even trolled the tweet by sharing pictures of different dishes with wrong names.
Glad people can now see with open eyes what you're serving them ... An awfully wrong recipe ..! ????♀️????????????#paneertikkahttps://t.co/aL16vRSYRs— Poonam Adarsh T ???????? (@patopedia) November 3, 2020
After quoting this in my previous tweet I went on to read the comments. They will make you burst in laughter.????????????
I wish Pramila Jayapal and Kamla Harris were at the least be a little more Indian than they claim #paneertikkahttps://t.co/5mLfZOAx4f— Sadhvi Jaya Bharti (@SJayaBharti) November 4, 2020
Hello @PramilaJayapal always correct yourself before tweet , instead of putting picture of #PaneerTikka you posted #PaneerKadai ...????#PramilaJayapal anything for #Votehttps://t.co/UlbOEUEv3Spic.twitter.com/KLCgTrRnxO— Joydeep Roy (@IjoydeepRoy) November 3, 2020
Well if this is Paneer Tikka, then this is PURI SABJII ???????? #paneertikka#purisabjihttps://t.co/Dk40J3I2w9pic.twitter.com/IJLQVU8Lk6— Ankita - foodiechori (@foodiechori) November 3, 2020
However, later in a follow-up tweet, Pramila Jayapal mentioned the dish to be paneer tikka masala (not simple paneer tikka) and shared the recipe alongside.
By popular demand, the recipe for Paneer Tikka Masala, slightly adapted from the fabulous @twosleevers! You can either eat the tikka on its own, or add the masala (sauce) which is like a curry. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/0tNyEZOWN4— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) November 3, 2020
About Somdatta SahaExplorer- this is what Somdatta likes to call herself. Be it in terms of food, people or places, all she craves for is to know the unknown. A simple aglio olio pasta or daal-chawal and a good movie can make her day.