Lucknow, known as the city of Nawabs, is not just a tourist spot but a place where taste and tradition go hand in hand, especially for those with a sweet tooth. The Shahi Kesar Peda, the winter Revdi, and the cloud-soft Makhan Malai are examples of the city’s rich culinary heritage. But recently, one of these famous sweets, Malai Makhan, became the cause of a controversy.
A food vlogger shared a video on Instagram that showed the making of Malai Makhan at Lucknow’s famous Ram Arse sweet shop. While the video starts off as a delicious experience, seconds later, a scene unfolds that leaves the viewers shocked.
The video shows how the Malai is spread in a large vessel, then cut into four pieces. These pieces are shaped into triangles and dipped in milk. Later, they are cut into smaller pieces and stuffed with chopped cashews, pistachios, almonds and cardamom. The cream pieces are then folded and shaped into paan-like shapes. The whole process feels like a poem of taste being written, but then a shocking incident happens.
In the middle of the video, a rat suddenly climbs onto the sweet table and starts running right over the cream and dry fruits. The artisan tries to chase it away as quickly as possible, but by then the rat has already made contact with the ingredients. The video concludes with the vlogger eagerly tasting the malai makhan. However, it remains unclear whether it’s the same sweet a rat ran over or a fresh batch of malai makhan.
How Social Media Reacted
As soon as the clip surfaced, there was a flood of reactions on social media. People expressed their anger over the lack of cleanliness in the comment section and questioned the quality of the sweet. Malai Makhan, which has always been considered a royal and reliable sweet, has suffered a setback due to this video.
In this age of social media, when anything can go viral in a single click, cleanliness and responsibility have become more important than ever. Today, not just taste, quality and hygiene have also become equally important.
The identity of Lucknow’s sweets is still intact, but now the city’s halwais have the challenge to set an example not only in terms of taste but also in terms of hygiene.
People reacted to the video and raised several questions. One of the Instagram user mentioned “How do these places stay in business?”
Another social media user wrote, “They are serving anything.”
A user commented that, “Hygiene is illegal here…”
