New Delhi, Nov 11 “Food has always had a special place in my story and it was while looking for a good meal that I met Rajiv, and fell in love,” says Sonia Gandhi, stressing that ‘dal chawal’ is “the taste of home” and she cannot go a day without it.
Posting a video shot before Diwali with daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and granddaughter Miraya Vadra at the 1, Safdarjung Road house where she used to say when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister, Sonia Gandhi listed what excites her taste buds and pointed out that she loves Gujarati food.
Sonia Gandhi also listed Bengali food, Kashmiri kofta, kebabs, chicken tikka, chicken tandoori and dal makhani among her favourite foods.
“I love Indian food. Bengali food I love. Believe it or not, I love Gujarati food from Surat,” she says in the video put out on her X and Instagram accounts.
“It took me time to get used to Indian food. You know it was difficult for me to enjoy Indian food right at the beginning. I didn’t know how to cook when I came but later slowly I learnt. I love kebabs, chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, dal makhani,” she says in the video.
She also listed Kashmiri kofta and Kashmiri dish ‘haakh’ among her favourites.
Priyanka Gandhi pointed out that dal chawal is made every day in Sonia’s house.
“From the day I came to this house, till today, the only dal that is cooked is Arhar ki dal, no other dal,” Sonia Gandhi says.
Priyanka Gandhi pointed out that Sonia Gandhi used to make the Gujarati dish ‘khandvi’.
Recalling Indira Gandhi, Sonia said her mother-in-law could not cook but she had a very developed sense of food and knew exactly how to improve something.
In her post on X accompanying the video, Sonia Gandhi said, “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.”
“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 said.
The video comes a day after Sonia Gandhi’s book “Belonging: A Journey of Love” hit the stands. Readers lined up at prominent bookstores in central Delhi on Tuesday to pick up copies of the book, with booksellers describing a strong first day.
(PTI News)
