American comedian Hasan Minhaj trolled for saying Indians order their dal with ‘dharka’ on top

Indian-origin American comedian Hasan Minhaj has become the subject of lighthearted trolling after claiming that Indians sometimes order their dal with extra “dharka” on top. Confused? So were many of those who saw his video.

In a recent interview with Food & Wine magazine, Minhaj claimed that Indians, when they go to a South Asian restaurant, order dal with “dharka” — which, he said, is a term for fried onions.

Tadka vs dharka

Those familiar with Indian cooking know that “tadka” is often added to dal. It refers to a technique of tempering spices and sometimes chillies and onions in hot oil or ghee. “Dharka”, on the other hand, is not a word in the Indian culinary lexicon.

Not content with simply mispronouncing the word, Minhaj doubled down and spelled it out too.

“If you go to a South Asian restaurant, and even in India, there’s this idea when you sometimes order dal, you’ll say extra dharka ‘D-H-A-R-K-A, dharka’ is the fried onions that you put on the top," the Indian-origin comedian said in the interview.

“There’s this litigation of like, ‘Hey, hey, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t be cheap with it. Like, I want extra dharka. Put the onions on that. I don’t want to be able to, you know, I want you to mess up the kiss to my beloved after this meal, like, do not shortchange me with the dharka,” he added.

Hasan Minhaj trolled for ‘dharka’ comment

The comments section was immediately inundated with people wondering what ‘dharka’ is.

“Extra Dharka is what my heart does whenever I see Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Tadka is what you put in food and no one asks for extra tadka,” quipped one viewer.

“Hasan Minhaj being as confident as ChatGPT when it doesn't have the expertise,” another joked.

“All I need in life is this man’s confidence! And some extra DHARKA, whatever it means!” read one comment.