New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi may have spent decades navigating India’s political landscape, but her affection for Indian food, particularly Gujarati delicacies from Surat, has emerged as a lighter revelation accompanying the release of her autobiography.
“Believe it or not, I love Gujarati food from Surat,” Gandhi said in a video interview with HarperCollins, publisher of her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.
Recalling her early days in India, Gandhi said adjusting to the country’s varied and spicy cuisine had initially been difficult. Over time, however, she developed a taste for Indian dishes and learnt to cook several of them.
“Food has always had a special place in my story. It was while looking for a good meal that I met Rajiv and fell in love,” she said.
Gandhi described dal-chawal as the “taste of home”, saying she could not go a day without it. She revealed that arhar dal was the only variety prepared in her household.
“From the day I came to this house, till today, the only dal that is cooked is arhar ki dal, no other dal,” she said.
The video, filmed before Diwali at 1, Safdarjung Road, where she lived during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister, featured her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and granddaughter Miraya Vadra.
Listing her favourite dishes, Gandhi mentioned Bengali food, Gujarati delicacies, Kashmiri kofta, haakh, kebabs, chicken tikka, tandoori chicken and dal makhani.
Priyanka revealed that her mother once prepared the Gujarati delicacy khandvi and that dal-chawal remained a daily staple at her home.
Recalling her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, Sonia said she was not particularly skilled at cooking but possessed an excellent sense of taste and knew how a dish could be improved.
In a social media post accompanying the video, Gandhi reflected on how food had helped her connect with India.
“Years later, India came to me the same way, one meal at a time. At first the variety amazed me and the spice scared me. Now dal chawal is the taste of home, and I can’t go a day without it,” she wrote.
The video was released a day after her autobiography hit bookstores.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
