Travel Vlogger Calls Sabudana Vada 'Indian Doughnuts', Desis Aren't Happy

More and more Indian dishes are now catching the fancy of travellers from across the world. Recently, a travel vlogger and entrepreneur Nick Gray made a video about sabudana vada, a deep-fried fritter made with tapioca pearls, roasted peanuts and boiled potatoes. In his Instagram video, Nick Gray said that sabudana vada is his favourite dish in the world. He visited Mumbai’s famous Prakash Shakahari Upahaar Kendra to enjoy a plate of fresh hot sabudana vada. At one point in the video, Nick Gray described it as an “Indian doughnut”. Now, many people took slight offence to this description as they argued that equating Indian dishes with Western food is misleading and inaccurate.

Even though this video got over 44,000 likes, many people pointed out how Nick Gray should not have used the words “Indian doughnuts”. An Instagram user suggested, “Tapioca fritters instead of doughnuts maybe? I know you want it to be relatable but doughnuts are dense and sweet. These are light and savoury. Wouldn’t fritters be more apt?”

Another person wrote, “Please don’t call it a doughnut. It’s not a doughnut. Let’s call food by its original name, please. Do we call the burger, a vada pav? Let’s appreciate the unique food. There is absolutely no need to compare it with Western food. That’s like whitewashing eastern culture and its food. Keep it in its original name, if you wanna describe it, maybe talk about the process of how it’s made instead of comparing it to Western food. Western food is great in its way and Eastern cuisine is sophisticated in its own way. Don’t mix the two.”

Someone else commented, “As a Maharashtrian, I anoint you an honorary Maharashtrian and forgive the transgressions of calling the sabudana wada a…*gasp* donut. It’s alright Nick, I’m just glad you like our beloved sabudana wada. If you find a flat puffed up disc shaped sabudana wada anywhere, do try it out! Shaping it that way makes it crispier from the outside and fluffier and a little hollow from the inside; a perfect pocket for “shengdanyachi chutney” (peanut chutney).”

People also praised Nick Gray for highlighting local dishes instead of going for already popular Indian food. Making this point, an Instagram user wrote, “Finally people like you are making efforts to show that Indian food is more than just chicken tikka masala, naan, butter chicken, and biryani.”