'Rasgulla is nothing but idli dipped in sugar syrup': Shashi Tharoor reacts to viral social media post

A social media post comparing Rasgulla to idli dipped in sugar syrup has gone viral. It drew a sharp and eloquent response from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. The exchange was widely shared and celebrated online.

It started when social media user Sayantika posted on May 15 about Misti Doi and Nolen Gurer Rosogolla. She wondered how to explain the taste of these sweets to someone who was not Bengali.

A user named @crazyxedi responded by quoting his post. A user called Rasgulla “nothing but idli dipped in sugar syrup”. A Mumbai Indians fan also called it “the most overrated dessert”. The post quickly garnered over 2,50,000 views.

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Another user, Kanika, noticed the comment and issued a light-hearted warning. She said that if Shashi Tharoor came to know about the statement, he should “prepare for an eloquent linguistic murder”. The warning turned out to be accurate.

Tharoor responded the next day. He called the comparison not only a culinary mistake, but a “deep cosmological misunderstanding.”

A Kerala MP explained the difference. Rasgulla is made from chhena, a mild milk curd. Idlis are made from a fermented batter of parboiled rice and black gram. Their compositions belong to completely different kingdoms.

One is an airy, spongy texture designed to absorb light sugar syrup. The other is a dense, steaming matrix of complex carbohydrates and proteins. He said they have nothing in common in taste, texture, structure or purpose.

Tharoor then turned his attention to the Idli itself. To dismiss it as a blank canvas for sugar syrup was deeply unfair, he said. He called Idli “a master class in biotechnology”.

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According to Tharoor, making the perfect Idli requires balancing the wild fermentation microflora during a cold night. The result is a steamy cloud that represents a triumph of gut health and nutritional balance.

It is “a savory monolith of South Indian culinary genius, perfectly designed to absorb the sharp cut of a well-seasoned sambar or the fiery depth of a molaga-podi (gunpowder) paste infused with cold-pressed sesame oil or nourishing melted ghee,” wrote Shashi Tharoor on X.

He added that the claim that Idli would “agree to drown in sugar syrup” fundamentally misunderstood his dignity.

He ended with a sharp but polite instruction. If anyone thinks Rasgullas is overrated, he should argue on his own merits, according to the politician. But Idli, he insisted, should be left out of arguments at the dessert table altogether.

“Leave the sublime, perfectly fermented, steamed majesty of Idli out of your dessert table polemics, ma’am!” he wrote

Reaction on social networks

“The sun turned into grass. The grass turned into milk. The milk turned into rasgulla. The sun also turned into paddy and urad. Paddy and urad turned into idlis. And the consciousness that became both now stands in an argument – debating which is better,” the social media user wrote.

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“How about an Idli fest? We’d love to taste your idlis! I watched a video where you claimed to make idlis for a week and store them in the freezer (during your US days!”) wrote another user.

One user quipped: “I think ChatGPT is taking notes from you sir.”

“As always Mr. Tharoor never fails to disappoint. My daily dose of English is incomplete. Word of the day – polemic,” chimed in another.