By Pork is finally hitting its stride in India. In East UP, Dalit butchers are turning cooks, selling prepared pork items by their roadside huts. In Hyderabad, 10 years ago sausages were hard to find; now supermarkets stock several varieties of bacon for the discerning pork-lover. In Delhi and Mumbai, bacon fries, bacon jam and pork chops sell well.
How did we get hooked to what was once seen as unclean meat?
“The internet food culture has played an important role in this, with a lot more people being aware of all the food options out there and more willing to try them out,” says Mumbai-based food researcher and entrepreneur Rhea Mitra-Dalal.
Dalal founded The Porkaholics on Facebook, a community group dedicated to pork, with members from across India. For a year now, the group has been posting recipes, but before the pandemic, they also had regular meet-ups and potlucks, and shared tips on pork-related news and events.
“As more people are trying pork, they’re discovering that it is a more delicious and cheaper meat option, and they are localising it with dishes usually associated with chicken or mutton,” says Harish Kathuria, a Hyderabad-based real estate consultant who is co-admin of a Facebook group called The Pork Affair – Hyderabad.
