This Article is From Nov 03, 2020

The Paneer Tikka That Wasn't: Why Desi "Comfort Food" Is Trending Amid US Election

Here's what paneer tikka has to do with the 2020 United States presidential election

The Paneer Tikka That Wasn't: Why Desi 'Comfort Food' Is Trending Amid US Election

A picture shared on Twitter by Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.

On the eve of the 2020 United States presidential election, several social media users were surprised to see "paneer tikka" trending on Twitter. The classic Indian dish may not have much to do with the election, but it found a spot on the trends list thanks to a tweet by Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. 

On the night before the election, Ms Jayapal decided to make some comfort food. The dish she chose was paneer tikka, in honour of Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Mr Harris had recently revealed that her favourite North Indian dish is "any kind of tikka".

"Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That's paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing #KamalaHarris Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka!" wrote Pramila Jayapal, 55, on Twitter. She also added the hashtag #BidenHarris2020 while urging US citizens to vote. 

The Congresswoman, a members of the Democratic Party, also shared the recipe in a follow-up tweet.

However, Ms Jayapal's version of paneer tikka raised quite a few eyebrows on the microblogging platform. Several Twitter users pointed out that it looked nothing like a traditional paneer tikka, which is not served with gravy.

A number of Twitter users mocked the tweet

Like Kamala Harris, Ms Jayapal has her roots in Chennai too. She was born in Tamil Nadu capital and immigrated to the United States in 1982, at the age of 16. 

Ms Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Chennai and immigrated to the US for a doctoral programme at the age of 19. 

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