State hero, national champ

It's not the food Punjabis cook at home, but butter chicken, dal makhni, and tandoori chicken are eating-out favourites across India. So, how did we get here?

- VIR SANGHVI

What do Indians like to eat when we go out for a meal? As much as things may have changed in recent years, the top two eating-out cuisines in India are still Punjabi and Punjabi. While they are not necessarily the food that Punjabis eat at home, they are still restaurant cuisines created and popularised by Punjabis.

The first is the butter chicken-dal makhni kind of staple restaurant food served all over India. The second is Punjabi-Chinese or Sino-Ludhianvi, invented by Punjabi restaurateurs in the 1970s and 1980s.

We tend to take Punjabi restaurant cuisine for granted, never recognising quite how ubiquitous it is all over India. Over a decade ago, I went to shoot at a resort in Kerala. I looked forward to some good Malayali food. The hotel had a buffet every day, with such dishes as paneer makhni and tandoori vegetables. When I remonstrated with the chef, he quickly set me right.

"Look", he said. "You come from outside. But most of my guests are from Kerala. They eat Kerala food at home. When they come out, they want to eat butter chicken. That's what I give them."

The chef was right, of course. A survey by the National Restaurant Association revealed that 63 per cent Indians want North Indian food when they go out.