Indian-origin American comedian Hasan Minhaj has become the subject of lighthearted trolling after claiming that Indians sometimes order their dal with extra “dharka” on top. Confused? So were many of those who saw his video.
In a recent interview with Food & Wine magazine, Minhaj claimed that Indians, when they go to a South Asian restaurant, order dal with “dharka” — which, he said, is a term for fried onions.
Tadka vs dharka
Those familiar with Indian cooking know that “tadka” is often added to dal. It refers to a technique of tempering spices and sometimes chillies and onions in hot oil or ghee. “Dharka”, on the other hand, is not a word in the Indian culinary lexicon.
Not content with simply mispronouncing the word, Minhaj doubled down and spelled it out too.
“If you go to a South Asian restaurant, and even in India, there’s this idea when you sometimes order dal, you’ll say extra dharka ‘D-H-A-R-K-A, dharka’ is the fried onions that you put on the top," the Indian-origin comedian said in the interview.
“There’s this litigation of like, ‘Hey, hey, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t be cheap with it. Like, I want extra dharka. Put the onions on that. I don’t want to be able to, you know, I want you to mess up the kiss to my beloved after this meal, like, do not shortchange me with the dharka,” he added.
Hasan Minhaj trolled for ‘dharka’ comment
{{/usCountry}}“There’s this litigation of like, ‘Hey, hey, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t be cheap with it. Like, I want extra dharka. Put the onions on that. I don’t want to be able to, you know, I want you to mess up the kiss to my beloved after this meal, like, do not shortchange me with the dharka,” he added.
Hasan Minhaj trolled for ‘dharka’ comment
{{/usCountry}}The comments section was immediately inundated with people wondering what ‘dharka’ is.
“Extra Dharka is what my heart does whenever I see Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Tadka is what you put in food and no one asks for extra tadka,” quipped one viewer.
“Hasan Minhaj being as confident as ChatGPT when it doesn't have the expertise,” another joked.
“All I need in life is this man’s confidence! And some extra DHARKA, whatever it means!” read one comment.
Indian comedian Rohan Joshi joined the trolling brigade by reimagining the poster of the 2000 film “Dhadkan” as “Dharkaa” — starring Minhaj, of course.
Who is Hasan Minhaj?
Hasan Minhaj is an American comedian and actor. The 41-year-old was most recently seen in Netflix’s Best of the Best, which he also co-produced.
Minhaj was born in California to Indian parents. His parents had immigrated to the US from India.
He is a two-time winner of the Peabody Award, which is the oldest major electronic media award in the United States.