Idli Or Dunked Rice Cake? Harsh Goenka Shares 'Fancy' Menu With English Names For Indian Food

There is little doubt that many Indian dishes are becoming a permanent menu item in foreign restaurants. Dishes like sambar-vada, dosa and idli are winning over people for their nourishing yet delectable taste. Recently, Harsh Goenka, the chairperson of the RPG Group, shared a photo of a menu that had listed some staple South Indian dishes. But instead of their regional name, the menu had English names of the dishes. For instance, vada-sambar was renamed “Dunked Doughnut”, idli was “Dunked Rice Cake” and dosa was listed as “Naked Crepe”.

While sharing the photos of this menu, Harsh Goenka wrote, “Who knew vada, idli, and dosa could sound so fancy? With these strange names khaane ka mazaa khatam! Agree?” The prices listed in this menu far exceeded the price in India. A plate of sambar vada was priced at 16 dollars (approximately Rs 1300), idli was 15 dollars (approximately Rs 1200), and dosa was 17.5 dollars (approximately Rs 1400).

Commenting on this post, an X user wrote, “This is called an identity crisis. In an effort to appear more westernised, people forget their roots. In the coming decades, we’ll see people in India start calling traditional dishes by fancy names to sound cool, claiming them as Western delicacies with pride.”

Another person opined, “Downright insulting to any self-respecting South Indian. But as a Ghatkopar resident, I’m all too familiar with Maggi Dosa and Pav Bhaji Dosa and Schezwan Idli. It feels very bad but doesn’t hurt anymore because they cannot make Idli, Vada and Dosa the way it is meant to be made.”

Someone else observed, “Nowadays the younger generation don’t like to eat our traditional desi delicacy. A few days back I asked my wife to rename desi items with such fancy names and then perhaps my son would try to eat desi items.”

An X user remarked, “Oh yes!! Indian recipes, Indian names. Like the feel of pani puri can never be replaced by water balls. Better, to go with original names”

Many foreign restaurants change the names of dishes to cater to the local population. However, many famous dishes like Japan’s sushi, Vietnam’s Pho, Greek’s moussaka and Korean kimchi have managed to retain their original name despite gaining global popularity.