Pramila Jayapal's paneer tikka power play for Kamala Harris gets scorched on Twitter
US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's last-minute push to garner support for Democratic US vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris by deploying culinary soft power has sparked a social-media storm among Indians.
On the night before the election, Jayapal, the first South Asian-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives, tweeted about making "paneer tikka" in honour of the California senator, saying the latter mentioned on Instagram that her favourite north Indian food was any kind of tikka.
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While fellow Congresswoman Grace Meng and stand-up comedian Francesca Fiorentini described the photo accompanying the tweet as "yummy", Indian netizens pointed out that the delicacy was nowhere close to being a traditional paneer tikka - a gravyless dish - and it resembled more like "malai paneer" or "paneer tikka masala". Paneer tikka generally refers to Indian cottage cheese grilled in a tandoor (clay oven).
Jayapal, a Democrat who represents the seventh congressional district in Washington state, also shared the recipe in a follow-up tweet, describing the dish as paneer tikka masala and saying it could be eaten on its own or with a spice-rich gravy. However, her response failed to cut the mustard with Twitter users and was in some instances met with mockery.
"Guys, I figured out what happened. Pramila ordered malai paneer from a restaurant and called it paneer tikka. She didn't cook this. That is why she doesn't know what the dish is," one user tweeted.
Another wrote: "If that is tikka then I'm the US president."
"That's paneer tikka? Damn, I need a refresher course for Indian cuisine!", said another.
Others ridiculed her by posting a volley of images of Indian dishes and called them "paneer tikka", while some suggested it takes one Google search to know the difference between a tikka and makhani (a gravy delicacy made with butter and cream) - or to just check with the Indian Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna.
Like Harris, Jayapal also traces her roots to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She immigrated to the United States in 1982.
US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Photo: Facebook alt=US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Photo: Facebook
Last December, when Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar refused to meet Jayapal, who had been critical of New Delhi's policies in Kashmir, Harris stood up for her, saying on Twitter, "It's wrong for any foreign government to tell Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill. I stand with @RepJayapal, and I'm glad her colleagues in the House did too."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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