‘There is no such thing as too raw to eat in India’: Foreigner couple praises desi food creativity in viral video
A foreign couple’s observation on India’s use of raw ingredients in cooking has sparked a discussion on social media.
A foreign couple who moved to India sparked an engaging conversation on Instagram with their take on Indian cuisine’s use of raw and green ingredients. Guru and Lia shared their amazement at how nothing in India is “too raw to eat,” highlighting the country’s inventive use of unripe foods.
Guru explained that in Indian cuisine, hardly anything is considered too raw to be used in cooking. For example, green mangoes, which are unripe and sour, are commonly preserved and enjoyed as pickles. Similarly, green jackfruit, even when still immature, is cooked as sabzi. He also highlighted the creativity in Indian cooking by mentioning that even flowers can be transformed into delicious pakoras, a popular fried snack. Their Instagram caption summed it up beautifully: “There is no such thing as too raw to eat in India. When it is a flower, you can make pakora. When it is raw, cook in sabji. When it is ripe, eat as it is. That’s so amazing.”
Take a look at the video:
The post invited a wave of responses from Indian followers. One user commented, “As an Indian, I didn’t realize that I eat so many things raw. I have been doing it routinely without even realizing it,” with a laughing emoji.
Another user challenged the generalisation, stating, “Yeah, that’s completely wrong and stereotypical to say that. In South India, we don’t eat that kind of food here. We have different sambar, spicy dishes, and millet-rich foods. We don’t depend only on vegetables or related items. Rice is better here.”
A user noted, “Wait until you found out that India has the most vegitarian dishes and all are not processed like cheese burger ”
