Shake a Leg

COLONEL SANDERS is finally having the last laugh. Almost 10 years after it made headlines for protests in Bangalore and downed shutters in D...

COLONEL SANDERS is finally having the last laugh. Almost 10 years after it made headlines for protests in Bangalore and downed shutters in Delhi, his little bird is making big news is kukkad country. Chandigarh has succumbed with sales of Rs 1 lakh a day8212;a considerable figure by fast food standards8212;and Ludhiana8217;s next on the list.

With the advantage of hindsight, city sages agree KFC8217;s was a recovery waiting for the repositioning. 8216;8216;Chicken and Punjabis, the love affair is centuries old,8217;8217; says Sanjeev Verma, head chef at Khyber, a popular North Indian food outlet in Sector 35. 8216;8216;While the world feasts on the chicken breast, Punjabis have always been fascinated with the leg. Maybe that8217;s the reason KFC is such a hit.8217;8217;

Like McDonald8217;s, which discovered desi works best with the Chunnu-Munnu-Mummy-Papa crowd, KFC has also tweaked its patent recipe for their new market. Crispier, spicier, juicier and peppier, with a generous sprinkling of hot sauce, is how KFC regular Mini Bal would describe it. 8216;8216;I8217;ve had it in Canada, this is definitely Punjabiised,8217;8217; she says.

Though KFC reps rubbish such claims, the heartland influence shows in the paneer tikkas and Navratra-spesh veg thalis as well. 8216;8216;There8217;s a cosmopolitan, youthful crowd here, ready to experiment with new tastes,8217;8217; says KFC8217;s director of marketing Sharanita Keswani.

As long as the base is the familiar kukkad. With Chawla8217;s Chicken 8216;Inventors of Cream Chicken8217;, scream their boards on every nukkad and Kaka Chicken Corner rivalling Le Corbusier8217;s squat red buildings in dominating the city landscape, Chandigarh was a prime market waiting to be discovered.

Zorawar Kalra, who8217;s following dad Jiggs into the food biz, believes Punjab8217;s predilection for videshi chicken has something to do with its obsession with cosmo-cousin Delhi. 8216;8216;There8217;s also a huge crowd that buys into the American culture, influenced by their NRI relatives,8217;8217; he says.

Gourmet guru Jiggs, though, is rather upset at the selling-out. 8216;8216;Punjabi cuisine is incredibly vast, and extremely resourceful as far as chicken is concerned,8217;8217; says Kalra, who8217;s working on a cuisine map of the country.

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8216;8216;Butter chicken is the lowest common denominator. How can we forget choosa makhni, bhatti da murga and so many varieties of tikkas, kebabs and tandoor preparations?8217;8217; he asks. 8216;8216;One day, the Sardars will realise that this high-calorie stuff is not the best food.8217;8217;

Till then, though, the queues will keep forming outside the Sector 8 outlet. Butter chicken can wait.