What we did to Chinese food is what is being done to Indian food abroad.
Foreigners in some parts of the world like Indian cuisine so much that several restaurants have started adding it to their menus. However, they don’t often remake the dish as it is, and add a customized touch or name it weirdly to make it relevant to the area.
For instance, a restaurant in the United States Of America has a dish on their menu called the ‘Naked Crepe’ which is nothing but our very own ‘Sada Dosa’.
Twitter user @inika_ shared a screengrab of the online menu of the restaurant named Indian Crepe Co. which gave our humble (and popular) South Indian dishes the weirdest names possible. For starters, they wrote ‘Dunked Doughnut Delight’ next to a bowl of ‘Sambar Vada’. A plate of ‘Idli-Sambar’ was called ‘Dunked Rice Cake Delight’.
Next up they committed blasphemy by naming ‘Plain Dosa’ as ‘Naked Crepe’ and ‘Masala Dosa’ as ‘Smashed Potato Crepe’.
omfg pic.twitter.com/EEIkpBJcoA
— inika⛓ (@inika__) July 16, 2022
My wallet is screaming just looking at the prices. And don’t even get me started on the food description under each dish. What’s a ‘Classic Coconut Relish’? ‘Coconut chutney’ bolo yaar!
There’s more to this, guys!
There’s more. pic.twitter.com/BinMJf01Ci
— Aniruddha (@rapidsnail) July 17, 2022
Clearly, I’m not able to take this well and neither are some people online. This is what they said:
I hate it when Indian names are not used.
Sushi, Sashimi are easily used and everyone understands what they are.
I believe it is Indians who do not like to use Indian names – Westerners are OK with it.— Madhumita D.Mazumdar (@mdmzd) July 17, 2022
Why can’t they use the original names? Others things can be given in explanation. Sushi is called sushi everywhere and not “Raw boneless fish chunks wrapped in celery”.
— Vijayan (@IVijayan2) July 17, 2022
If Mendu Vada had association, they would have sue them till now
— The Shubham (@Shuvi_Bhawsar) July 17, 2022
Kimchi= Kimchi
Sushi = Sushi
Hamburger= Hamburger
Pie = PieIdli=Steamed rice cake
Vada=Spicy Doughnut
Dosa= Crispy Crepe🗿🗿🗿🗿
— deepak (@Mdeepak1998) July 17, 2022
imagine telling a 99 variety dosa guy that they’re selling a masala dosa for Rs.1500
— sadi🦋 (@sadizzle) July 16, 2022
😳😳😳
Naked crepe and smashed potato crepe…😭😂
Why can’t they sell them with their original names??— Shilpa5 (@shilpa956) July 17, 2022
There are Indian dishes.
Donut is not sweet. pic.twitter.com/sGcZUjmJrt— Halkat Manus ❁ (@HalkatManus) July 17, 2022
They don’t want any thing to do with India its just like renaming Moscow mule to Kyiv mule..
— Madhu (@MVenkatarayappa) July 17, 2022
I will not idli vada anymore….. in the US… Here I get 2 idli & 1 Vada for ₹45 in Brahmins Cafe or Eat First in JayaNagar…
— Aravind Bala (@aravindbal) July 17, 2022
😂 We must too…
Crumpet is “stiff ghevar”
Mash is “ālu churan”
Scone is “sādā mohanthāl”
Pancake is ” sādā chillā”Kedgeree is as it is khichdi 🙄
We can do that for others —
Polenta is “makai peethla”
Falafel is “mootkè”Fair & square…
— ănyā (@coshstruck) July 17, 2022
Some explanations were also given.
It’s all marketing.
Sushi has the reputation for being exotic and high-class. Indian food doesn’t have the same reputation.
— Funky Brewster (@StunGunSteve) July 17, 2022
to sell them to locals. Are you going to sell them like idly, dosa, names probably they wont be able to even pronounce.
But the rates!
— Ajay (@Ajaychennai2) July 17, 2022
People you must understand that it is not about pronunciation but attracting the customer. Maybe someone should open a restaurant of different kinds of Parathas and call them stuffed alu, gobhi, smashed cheese, mooli rolls. Trust me according to Gora psychology it will be a hit!
— Rekha Sharma (@RekhaSh62229768) July 17, 2022
Now I feel guilty for calling ‘Gobhi Manchurian’ and ‘Chilly Paneer’ authentic Chinese food.