It is not every day that a special guest drops by to give a local YouTube cooking channel a big boost. Rahul Gandhi did just that when he appeared on Tamil Nadu's popular Village Cooking Channel and interacted with the local chefs, who served a special dish to the Congress Vice President. Relishing the delicious Mushroom Biryani in the authentic South Indian style, Rahul Gandhi was all-praise for the commitment and ambitions of the chefs.
Rahul Gandhi was joined by Karur MP Jothimani, who helped with the translation, and AICC in-charge of TN, Puducherry and Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao. Hosting the political leaders were the chefs, V. Subramanian, who runs VCC along with his cousins V. Murugesan, V. Ayyanar, G. Tamilselvan and T. Muthumanickam, led by their grandfather and former mass caterer M. Periyathambi.
The Village Cooking Channel on YouTube has over 7 million subscribers and the viral video with Rahul Gandhi has garnered nearly 3 million views in less than a day.
The saying "too many cooks spoil the broth" doesn't hold water here. In addition to the TN farmer family's participation, Rahul Gandhi also turned chef for a day. While the original plan was to be a part of preparations from the beginning, but the Congress leader's hectic schedule didn't allow it. But Rahul Gandhi was in time to prepare Raita in the channel's signature style.
Rahul Gandhi was seen following the chef's popular style of announcing the ingredients as they are being added. This exercise even expanded the opposition leader's Tamil vocabulary as he announced vengayam (onion), thayir (yoghurt) and kallu uppu (rock salt) before adding them to the vessel.
VCC in US next?
After all the preparations, Rahul Gandhi joined the VCC team as they sat on palm frond mats. The mushroom biryani was served on a banana leaf, which the Congress scion thoroughly enjoyed. "Romba nalla iruku (It's very good)," he was heard saying in the video.
Rahul Gandhi also engaged in a deep conversation with the VCC chefs about their plans next and expressed how moved he was by their cookout session. In fact, he even proposed putting in a word with Chicago-based Sam Pitroda, who was an advisor to former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, to host VCC show in the US. He emphasized traveling more within the country as well.
Rahul Gandhi was in Tamil Nadu as he campaigned for the upcoming Assembly elections. He visited Coimbatore and Tiruppur, where he interacted with people from different walks of life. But his appearance at the VCC channel was a heart-winning gesture and highlight of his tour for many.
You can watch the viral video below:
