The Kerala Tourism Twitter page faced a barrage of hate on Wednesday after a certain food post got a lot of Hindu blood boiling.
The page tweeted the recipe to ‘beef ularthiyathu’, otherwise known as Kerala Beef Fry, on what happened to be the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti.
The traditional dish is made with beef, coconut, curry leaves, and various spices.
Tender chunks of beef, slow-roasted with aromatic spices, coconut pieces, and curry leaves. A recipe for the most classic dish, Beef Ularthiyathu, the stuff of legends, from the land of spices, Kerala: https://t.co/d7dbgWmlBw pic.twitter.com/aI1Y9vEXJm
— Kerala Tourism (@KeralaTourism) January 15, 2020
Unfortunately, several right-wingers took offense to the fact that it was posted on Makar Sakranti, calling it a willful provocation.
Makar Sankranti, also known as Maghi, is a Hindu festival devoted to the worship of the the god Surya.
are you out of your mind? on Pongal and Sankranti when we revere Cows, Oxen, and Cattle for their contribution to mankind’s easy existence and culture…on one hand we have Gangireddula meLam in Telugu states, Jallikattu in TN, and Kambala races in Karnataka and you showcase this
— kaivalyam (@Telugutalli) January 16, 2020
Thanks for putting me off @KeralaTourism . I had all the plans of family vacation in Kerala and Lakshadvip starting 4th April. But seeing your promotional ad I’m cancelling it now and changing it to Himachal Pradesh.
— Nimbu Masala Anshul Bhartiya🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@NimbuMassala) January 16, 2020
Bye ‘Devil’s Own Country’
We will be launching soon a tourism boycott of Kerala unless you delete and aplogize. #BoycottKeralaTourism #BoycottKerala
— Hindu Americans (@HinduAmericans) January 16, 2020
So Kerala Tourism officially declares it’s not a destination for Hindus. Great going mallus. Are you just trying to rub it in? You’ll pay. Karma will catch up…
— Atul Mathur (@polpho) January 16, 2020
Try promoting Pork also. you will get a taste of your medicine.
— प्रशान्त पटेल उमराव (@ippatel) January 16, 2020
Shameless!
However, a lot of people came out in support of the tweet as well. Beef and pork are both widely eaten in Kerala, and is a normal part of their cuisine.
😂😂i never understood why people reply with pork dishes
— Jazzvlogz (@Jazzvlogz2) January 16, 2020
we malayalis also love pork dishes its available everywhere in kerala and i haven’t heard any muslims complain about this.
Come to Kerala. You can see Beef and pork are served in the same restaurant. We Malayalees eat beef and pork. If you don’t like it? Don’t eat. Simple as that.
— Joel Joseph (@JoelJosephMCT) January 16, 2020
No one shall get upset with beef. Pork is also available in Kerala in plenty. There are many pig farms in villages.
— JMK (@jeevanmk72) January 15, 2020
Triggered Bhakts should go to Goa… Beef is available everywhere…. And it's a BJP ruled state… 😂 😂 😂
— Avatar_Aang (@the_aang1) January 15, 2020
While several of the angry comments were asking the page to post pork recipes as well, the fact is that the Kerala Tourism site actually has a bunch of pork dishes on it. Also, in the page’s defense, this dish is so popular it could easily have been a coincidence.
