“When in India, you have to try the food. So we did,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billström posted on X at the start of a packed day of meetings. “Stopped by a small food stall and ordered what I think was ice cream”.
In his hand, he was holding what members of the Indians in Sweden Facebook group suggested was in fact dahi puri, dahibhalla, or perhaps dahi papdi chaat.
These are all savoury snacks that typically include, among other things, puri (or papdi) bread, raw onion, coriander leaves, sevdi, yoghurt, and carrot shavings.
Not, in other words, easy to confuse with ice cream.
When The Local pointed out the mistake, the tweet was deleted and replaced with a corrected version, with Billström shortly afterwards claiming on X that the error had been down to autocorrect.
“No need. I already know [what it is]” he replied. “But autocorrect played a joke with me.”
In the busy first working day of his visit, Billström visited one of the city’s famous book shops, then met with Thawar Chand Gehlot, the governor of Karnataka.
He has also visited the offices of the Indian Space Research Organisation, travelled on the Namma Metro, and visited an art school and a museum.
Billström will later take part in the Raisina Dialogue, India’s biggest foreign policy conference, where he will meet the country’s foreign minister, Dr S. Jaishankar.
I think the social media has pressed it too hard. he tweeted “what I think WAS icecream”, to me it’s pretty clear . Its a lot of yoghourt (of course sweet and savory toppings) and the poori itself looks like an icecream Shell. I wouldn’t blame the man for misinterpreting it by the looks. I really hope he liked it. It’s quite interesting to see him stopping by at a local food joint and try the local cuisine.. After all Indian food is not limited to Chicken tikka masala & Naan bread.. Cheers!