The menu of a banquet hosted by Droupadi Murmu for Vietnamese President Tô Lâm and a district-wise culinary map of Uttar Pradesh has provided fodder for social media memes and jokes galore, with many pointing to the absence of non-vegetarian options and the inclusion of “edible oil” as a signature dish.
Among the items on the menu for the presidential banquet were stuffed broccoli – which was listed as Vilayti Gobi – as well as stir-fried carrots and peas, and bajra khichdi.
Author and columnist Rajyasree Sen described it as an “utterly unimaginative menu – the worst of Indian vegetarian food”. She added: “To serve this to the president of a country which is incapable of serving even one tasteless meal, even in the simplest home. Shame.”
Another social media user, Vidit Bhargava, remarked that dishes such as “matar wale chawl” or rice with peas and khichdi would normally constitute food that is eaten on an upset stomach. On similar lines, a social media user named Manohar Kanapaka described the menu as a “famine diet travesty”.
Other social media users commented by sharing GIFs and memes about the menu and the culinary map.
A day earlier, media reports said that the Uttar Pradesh government had notified a district-wise culinary map under its “One District-One Cuisine” scheme. Under the initiative, each of the state’s 75 districts would be assigned a signature dish for branding, marketing and export, the Hindustan Times reported.
All food items on the list were vegetarian, the newspaper reported.
“Edible oil”, listed as a signature dish for Kanpur Dehat, fueled a host of tongue-in-cheek remarks on social media platform X.
Former Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that although she is a vegetarian, she found it “laughable” to exclude Lucknow’s signature meat dishes while speaking of cuisine from Uttar Pradesh.
Social media user Amit Schandillia described the list as “garbage right off the bat”. He said: “Nothing in Lucknow is even nearly as iconic than biryani, galaoti kebab, and nalli nihari. Least of all ANYTHING vegetarian.”
Another social media user, Shiblee, noted that Lucknow was last year designated as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s city of gastronomy for its “vibrant and delicious non veg cuisines”.
“Meanwhile, the Government of Uttar Pradesh has declared Chaat, Daal and milk-based products as signature dishes of Lucknow,” she remarked.
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