Samosas account for the biggest share in election expenses across the country How millions of samosas are consumed during the 20 days of ultimate election campaign How did samosas become such a hit that they became the cultural identity of this place?
What would you say if we tell you that in elections, some win and some lose but one snack wins every time. This snack is hot samosa. Be it North or South. If there is one item on which a lot of money is spent in the election expenses of politicians, then it is samosa. Don’t be surprised if we tell you that in every election 30 to 35 crore samosas go into the mouth only during election campaigns.
During elections, orders for samosas suddenly increase at some shops in every city and town, because they have to deliver samosas morning and evening to the leaders and workers engaged in the election campaign of the leader. A national candidate who stood in the last election told in an interview, how every day around 5000 samosas had to be arranged for the leaders and workers engaged in the election campaign at various places in the entire parliamentary constituency, which were spread from many areas at the district level to towns and villages.
On which item do the candidates spend the most
The election campaign of a candidate in the country lasts for about a month, but this election campaign gathers a lot of momentum in the last 20 days. In every district, the contest in the Lok Sabha elections was mainly seen between the three main parties. The candidates of these parties also spend the most. There are two biggest expenses in their category.
One is for food and the other is for petrol. This time votes were cast for 542 out of 543 seats in the country while the BJP candidate in Surat was declared victorious without any elections. In Lok Sabha elections, the election expenditure limit for every party candidate is 95 lakh rupees. In every election, the Election Commission definitely includes the rates of two things in the list of expenses of the candidates. Those are tea and samosa.
Is maths the key to eating samosas?
If we believe that the main contest on 542 seats is usually between three party candidates and they spend money, then these netas buy 15000 samosas every day in a district for election campaign, so if their campaign runs with full force for 20 days, then three lakh samosas will be consumed. In this way, 16 crore 26 lakh samosas were sold in at least 20 days of election campaign across the country. That means samosas worth about 162 crore rupees. The Election Commission has fixed the rate of samosa at Rs. 10 in some cities and Rs. 7.50 in some places.
However, this time 8360 candidates are contesting the Lok Sabha elections across the country. In the year 2019, 8039 candidates contested the elections. We have not usually counted them in our count like that, but we do assume that they must also be eating something.
How many samosas are consumed in the country daily
So what can we say now? In reality, our samosa is a hit in the elections. CEO and founder of Snacksfax in Bengaluru wrote in his LinkedIn post, the statistics say that 600 lakh or 6 crore samosas are consumed every day in the country. This is a business of 20,000 crores in India, which is growing at the rate of 15-20 percent every year.
Samosas have the biggest share in the food market. In the last two-three years, two samosa-related startups have opened in Bangalore – Samosa Singh and Samosa Party. Both the startups got good funding. Both are doing well.
Foreign traders brought it here
Samosa is a dish that is centuries old. Traders and travelers from Central Asia started its trend in India. They brought it with them. It became the most favorite food item in the Mughal court. When the Portuguese brought potatoes to India in the 17th century, potatoes became such a hit in samosa that now samosa means a dish stuffed with potatoes.
Ibn Babuta saw it in the court of Tughkal in the 14th century
Ibn Babuta, a European traveller who visited India in the 14th century, wrote, “When I came to India, I found Sambusak (i.e. Samosa) to be the most favourite in Muhammad Tughlaq’s court. From the king to the courtiers, everyone in the court relished it. This samosa was made by frying a mixture of mutton mince, almonds, pistachios, onions and spices. Then it was stuffed in a triangular envelope of flour and deep fried in ghee. Needless to say, Ibn Babuta also became an admirer of this samosa.
Favourite dish of the Mughal court
Amir Khusro, who was close to Akbar in his court, told how the special people associated with the royal power of Delhi were very fond of samosa. Even then, samosa was called Sambusak or Sambuska. Abul Fazal also told in Ain e Akbari that it was one of the favourite dishes of the Mughal court.
Now India has more
Samosa, which originated in Central Asia around the 10th century, is now more popular in India. In our country, life is incomplete without it. Due to its amazing popularity, World Samosa Day is celebrated every year on 5 September. For many years, this day is celebrated all over the world and samosa is praised. On this day, samosa parties are held, people make samosa and some people even learn to make samosa.
Food historians say that earlier when traders or travelers used to come from Central Asia, they used to bring these samosas with them. They used to roast them on fire. The practice of deep frying them started later.
How many names does samosa have?
Samosa has travelled as far as no other dish has travelled in the world. The way it has associated itself with different kinds of tastes, that has probably happened with no other dish. It is known by many names. In books and documents of many centuries ago, it was mentioned as Samboska, Sambusa, Sambosaz. Even now it has many different names, such as Singhada, Sambasa, Chamuka, Sambusaz and many more. All these names came from Persian vocabulary.
How the Samosa Empire Spread Across Asia
The “Samosa Empire” in Asia started spreading from Iran. It has been mentioned in books written in the tenth century. Iranian historian Abolfazi Behaqi mentioned it in “Tarikh-e-Behaqi”. However, a few years before this, Persian poet Ishaq al-Mawsiliqi had written a poem on it. It is believed that the samosa originated in Egypt. From there it reached Libya. Then the Middle East. It was very popular in Iran till the 16th century, but then it started shrinking.
Tags: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, 2024 Lok Sabha Election, Food, Food Business
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 3, 2024, 19:08 IST
