When instant noodles came to India

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The arrival of instant noodles in India was a turning point in culinary history.

In 1983, before Maggi 2-Minute Noodles launched, the country’s food culture centred around chapati, lentils and rice and the Indian economy was still a closed market.

Sangeeta Talwar, formerly of Nestle India, tells Surya Elango how instant noodles forever changed the food habits of the country.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Maggi 2-Minute Noodles. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
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0:22.7	you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put together
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0:40.6	Hello. in your life. Check out BBC Sounds. Hello, you're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me,
0:46.7	Suria Alango.
0:48.0	1983 was a transformative year for India. It had won the cricket world cup for the first time.
0:56.0	It was also a turning point in the country's culinary history.
1:01.4	The arrival of instant noodles.
1:06.5	I've been speaking to one woman who is integral to the launch.
1:10.7	In all our launches, we actually start by a little religious ceremony.
1:15.5	We pray to the Lord to bless us and to bless that day and to bless the product.
1:21.5	And there was a lot of excitement, woke up very early.
1:24.7	That's Sangita Talwar.
1:28.3	It's the 6th of January, 1983,
1:32.2	in a bustling market in New Delhi, India.
1:36.2	Sangita is heading up a team
1:37.9	launching a brand new noodle dish,
1:40.7	a dish called Maggie Two-Minute Noodles.
	...

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