Gautam Anand of ITC Maurya Sheraton had told me that the canned Dal Bukhara notched up a daily sale of Rs.50,000, for anyone who has had this wicked combination of maa ki dal, tomato puree and cream topped with white butter wants to take some for friends and relatives. I thought Gautam, despite having studied History under Mohammed Amin at St Stephen's, was being just a good salesman.

But after emptying the contents of a can (microwaved for four minutes and served piping hot with a blob of butter), I've started believing him. And I'm certain that if there are more people like me out there, the Chief Executive of ITC's Food Business, R.S. Naware, may be right in projecting a turnover of Rs.2-3 crore this financial year and Rs 40 crore by the end of the next three years, when ITC's entire canned foods range, evocatively named Kitchens of India, would be out in the market.

I'm especially enthusiastic about the Chicken Dakshin (Chicken Chettinad with coconut milk) and Dumpukht's Mutton Curry, which Naware promises will come in cans that can survive a year without being chilled or frozen. At present, 70 stores in the city are selling Dal Bukhara, but that doesn't mean convenience food has finally arrived. It'll require a huge cultural shift and I don't see it happening fast. Can you foresee a future when we'll stop having food cooked fresh for every meal by a dependable domestic ? I can't.

And I still feel the canned Dal Bukhara will continue to be bought for the same reason as it is today - to be taken to friends and relatives on your next trip overseas. But who knows, Dal Bukhara may just happen to be the Next Big Thing to happen in India.