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1. just got home from a #FrugalIndian lunch. The @Olacabs driver was super chatty. Turns out he was from Amethi & when I asked him about Rahul he used a peculiar UP term “woh to Bimund tha”. He immediately diverted the subject to @smritiirani and told me what a brilliant MP she
2. and went on a long monologue listing out everything she’d done. Surprisingly the journey took 45 minutes instead of the normal 15. I’m convinced he took a longer route just so he could prolong the conversation and talk about Smriti. The only other person he seemed to know was
3. Someone called Kaushik Basu. Apparently he rides this ola every week. He keeps asking the driver questions, but never listens to the answers, instead both asking and answering himself. So this ola driver asks me “sir aap bhi bangali lagte ho par aap kaise logon ko sunte ho”
1n So normally the #FrugalIndian seldom goes gaga over a restaurant - but this @akbari_mala is next level. They specialise in historical Indian food. Let me start chronologically - this is “Onnu Soru” from Tamil Sangam Literature (2000 yrs) the very first biriyani known 
2 it’s lightly spiced with just pepper - and is truly a celebration of the flavours of the meat & rice. Outstanding dish! Next the Turkish invasions - the Sambusek & Shabaly are both Turko-Afghan. The mutton samosa has eggplant & rose petals, first attested around the 900s
3 next up we come to the Ahom kingdom established around the 1200s from migrations around the Thai-Burmese border. This dish is a herby mutton mince wrapped in Betel leaf - the betel leaf stands out! Truly unique & sophisticated - served with “Paan Ras” - a betel leaf mocktail
1n The #frugalIndian birthday lunch: Sashimi omakase: (clockwise from top left) Mackerel, Hokkaido scallops, Scottish wild salmon, hamachi & Tuna
2n Seafood miso soup with onion tempura & lobster; pork belly simmered in a beef marrow broth. An interlude of 3 sorbets (clockwise from top left) litchi, ginger-soy & mango yuzu
3n the piece de resistance: Nobu style black cod, marinated in a maple shiro miso & cooked under turnip slices, served with pickled ginger & mustard micro-greens
THREAD the #FrugalIndian lunch:
1n succulent barrels of hand minced chevon, delicately spiced & cooked over rare mesquite coals for a tantalisingly Smokey flavour.
1n succulent barrels of hand minced chevon, delicately spiced & cooked over rare mesquite coals for a tantalisingly Smokey flavour.
2n An amuse bouche of assorted “verts surprise”: marinated fromage blanc tickled over a coal flame till molten; shashliks of exotic spices vegetables; canapés of roast potatoes, stuffed with a piquant queso fresco mix
3n luscious creamy brains of chevon, gently coddled in a tangy soffrito of rich purple Estonian winter aliates and Yucatan first harvest vermilion nightshade spiked with special “Oudh” spices
1n The #FrugalIndian Sunday Lunch: Luxuriant grains of aged Bazmaati, steamed over braised wild spatchcock, in the style of the Nabobs of Old Delhi “a la achaari”, redolent with fragrance of pickled green Zimbabwean pimentos.
2n delightful globules of golden fried, spiced, chickpea flour bathed like Cleopatra in a bagna frigida of fresh first milk yoghurt, delicately seasoned with salé-Nero & toasted wild Patagonian cumin
3n an assembled salad of exotic East Asian greens, served with crunchy tangy pickled carrots, with toasted Hokkaido winter peanuts over a base of cold glassy vermicelli, drenched in a citrus - caramel - chilli dressing
1n Like every poor farmer the #FrugalIndian too was protesting for subsidies. An INC saw me begging & decided to subside my lunch/protest. He offered me a very basic meal as behooves a tiller & toiler such as myself
2n To start there was Andalusian cauliflower sautéed in first press mustard extract, titillating spiced with Swedish winter cumin & Bolivian curcuma
3n this was followed by knödels in the “malayee caufta” style - made of delicately spiced winter gourds in a light & tangy yoghurt sauce
1n #FrugalIndian is relieved to eat her first restaurant meal in 6 months: started with a popcorn & vodka cocktail followed by Indian street style potato baskets a la “ragda”, stuffed with a spiced potato salad, organic yoghurt, salsa verde “lucknowaise” & a tangy tamarind sauce
2n followed by poulet frites “a la 65” flavoured with coromandel spices & verdant green curry leaves; and assorted kool-shah “amritsaraise” stuffed with beetroot, truffled cheese & daikon served with traditional accompaniments “poonjabaise”
3n crowned with a fillet mignon done rare (is there any other way to eat a steak?) served with pomme dauphinois, assorted spring vegetables & drenched in a luscious jus. Finished with a banoffee pie
1n A simple 6 course #frugalindian lunch: Queso Fresco made from hand extruded alpine cattle milk, in a delicate butter-cream sauce flavoured delicately with “epice-de-loodiana” & bell peppers of the first spring flowering.
2n exotic high Andean tubers, hand picked by Inca virgins on a moonlit night, roasted in a “Cadaiee” and tossed in a tangy pickling sauce of “achaard” spices, a speciality of the “putty-aala” region
3n black lentils served in the “maucanee” style, simmered overnight over a rare sandalwood flame & bathed in a luscious tomato concasse enriched with secret aromats comprising the “pawn-jaw-bee” Pentateuch & enriched with butter separated from the whey by yodelling Swiss maidens
1n So the #FrugalIndian went begging for her lunch & chanced upon this kind man @suvirsaran who offered me the most amazing Indian meal I’ve ever had PERIOD! At the House of Celeste
2n started with an awesome white chocolate PaniPuri filled with a pineapple green chilli water; my first drink a spicy guava mocktail with red chilli salt - yummy; then on to the spectacular aloo chaat ..amazing perfectly fried potatoes with aerated & super light...
3n now the non vegetarian here is good but the vegetarian is freaking next level. This incredibly Kerala onion & cheese sourdough flatbread with garlic aioli you really have to taste to believe. It’s like a circus in your mouth. Followed by the malabar paratha & mutton ghee roast
1n #FrugalIndian Recipe since you asked for the Mangsher Jhol. It’s quite unique...no spice...delicious. Heat mustard oil, add 3 chopped onions. Fry till it starts going dark brown around the edges
2n then add the paste of 3 onions .. notice the stages of browning of the paste to dark rich brown in pic 3; at which point you add a paste of Kashmiri red chilli & turmeric (the hydration of the spices is VERY important, must soak for 10 mins or more). Notice the rich red colour
3n meanwhile the mutton has been washed & marinated for 5 hours in yoghurt. Drain yoghurt & discard, but DONT rinse. Add mutton to curry & fry. Separately brown potatoes in mustard oil
#FrugalIndian
1n 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗷 𝗟𝗲𝗯𝘂-𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻, 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲: Grind green chillies, ginger & garlic with yoghurt. Marinate chicken in it for 2 hours. See how thin the marinade is? It should be thin for the lactic acid to work it’s magic on the chicken.
1n 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗷 𝗟𝗲𝗯𝘂-𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻, 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲: Grind green chillies, ginger & garlic with yoghurt. Marinate chicken in it for 2 hours. See how thin the marinade is? It should be thin for the lactic acid to work it’s magic on the chicken.
2n grind the onions SEPARATELY. heat mustard oil & splutter cassia leaves & whole peppercorns in it. add the onion paste & confit on low heat till the raw smell goes but caramelisation mustn’t happen - remember, you’re NOT after browning.
3n high heat, squeeze the chicken dry, add to the pan + turmeric & salt. fry till the oil films. All surfaces of the chicken should seem white & cooked from the outside. THEN lower heat & add the liquid marinade, mix well, cover & simmer 10-15 mins. Smells INCREDIBLE already
