Cookbook that calls curry with apples the ‘national dish of India’ gets desi disapproval

Reddit users were left speechless by a post about a cookbook that declares curry is the “National Dish of India.”

Reddit user u/Jumpy-Pepper-5839 posted about a page from “Famous Foreign National Dishes” on the subreddit r/India on June 6. Their picture shows the cookbook explaining how to prepare a dish called “Indian Curry.”

Not only did the cookbook falsely claim that curry is India’s national dish, but it also included “1 small apple” as part of the curry’s ingredients. While some Redditors expressed their shock, one commenter pointed out that apples are used in Japanese curry.

“Apple goes really well with curry though. It’s kind of a staple in Japanese curry,” the user wrote.

“This looks a lot like Japanese curry which was inspired by the modified British version of curry that was used to feed its army,” another user said. “Curry as an outsider dish lessened differences within the British army so the soldiers from different parts of the country would not feel left out if the food catered to a specific region and didn’t feature their regional food. At least that’s what I’ve read.”

Meanwhile, other Reddit users were surprised to read that curry is India’s national dish.

“Am I the only one who is more surprised by ‘NATIONAL DISH OF INDIA’ stuff,” the original poster, u/Jumpy-Pepper-5839, wrote.

“No, it looks like typical white ignorance of anything exotic,” another user replied.

While curry is undoubtedly a popular dish in India – and also in Japan – it is by no means the national dish of India. The South Asian country is one of the most diverse nations in the world in terms of language, culture, food and religion, among others. Due to this, the Indian government has never declared a national dish, with every region and subregion in India having its own staple dish instead.

Featured Image via pelican (CC BY 2.0)

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