Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has gone viral once again for his trademark eloquence, this time while defending the humble idli in an online discussion comparing rasgulla to “an idli dipped in sugar syrup.”
The exchange began when a social media user named Sayantika posted about Bengali sweets like Misti Doi and Nolen Gurer Rosogolla, wondering how to explain their taste to someone who wasn’t Bengali. In response, another user, @crazyxedi, dismissed rasgulla as “nothing but an idli dipped in sugar syrup” and called it “the most overrated dessert.”
Soon after, another user jokingly warned that the comment might attract Tharoor’s attention. “If Dr Shashi Tharoor found out about this statement, get ready for an eloquent linguistic assassination!” the user wrote. And Tharoor did respond.
“Indeed! To conflate a Rasgulla with an Idli is not just a culinary error; it is a profound cosmological misunderstanding,” he wrote in a lengthy post that quickly caught the internet’s attention.
The Congress MP went on to explain that rasgulla and idli come from “entirely different kingdoms.” He described chhena as a “delicate, squeaky, pristine curd of milk” while calling idli “a meticulously fermented batter of parboiled rice and black gram.”
{{/usCountry}}The Congress MP went on to explain that rasgulla and idli come from “entirely different kingdoms.” He described chhena as a “delicate, squeaky, pristine curd of milk” while calling idli “a meticulously fermented batter of parboiled rice and black gram.”
{{/usCountry}}“Their taste, consistency, structural integrity, and existential purpose share absolutely nothing in common,” he wrote.
Tharoor also passionately defended the idli, calling it “one of the greatest engineering marvels of the culinary world.”
“The Idli is not a mere ‘bland cake.’ It is a masterclass in biotechnology. To achieve the perfect Idli is to balance the delicate microflora of wild fermentation over a cold night, resulting in a steamed cloud that is a triumph of gut health, lightness, and nutritional balance. It is a savoury monolith of South Indian culinary genius, perfectly engineered to absorb the sharp tang of a well-spiced sambar or the fiery depth of a molaga-podi (gunpowder) paste infused with cold-pressed sesame oil or nutritious melted ghee,” he wrote.
“To suggest an Idli would even consent to being drowned in sugar syrup is to fundamentally misunderstand its dignity,” he added.
Concluding his post, Tharoor said that if someone finds rasgullas overrated, they should argue that on its own merits. But, the idli, he insisted, should be left out of the dessert table arguments entirely.
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Social media reactions
His response quickly drew amused reactions online.
One user wrote, “Beautiful. The Idli triumphs in the end, while there was no contest in the first place. The way you have described the idli, my legs are eager to run to the kitchen to grab a couple of idlis, drown it in sambar and experience them melting in the mouth.”
“This is peak Shashi Tharoor mode. Man turned a random rasgulla vs idli meme into a civilizational thesis, food science lecture, and poetic courtroom argument all at once. ‘Savoury monolith of South Indian culinary genius’ is the most Tharoor sentence imaginable,” commented another.
“Sir, you didn’t just defend Idli. You delivered a full-fledged constitutional protection for one of India’s greatest culinary inventions,” wrote a third user.