When it comes to food, India is up there with the best of the best, whether it is street food or delectable dishes served in posh Indian restaurants. You can get some delicious, cheap cuisines from street vendors across the length and breadth of India or splurge a pretty penny on chefs’ special or fusion foods at a sit-down dinner tables. Each Indian city has its own flavours, ingredients, and cultural flare.
We have created a fun count down of bizarre, interesting and most expensive foods in India.
Number#10 Gold Dry-Fruit Mithai
Found in: Surat, Gujarat, it costs about Rs. 9000/- per kilo. Believe it or not, a sweets store in Surat called 24 Carat Mithai Magic is selling a dry fruit specialty sweet covered in 24 carat pure gold leaf. The store is offering a kg of the sweet for Rs 9,000. The 80-year-old brand wanted to make the festival grand this year and opted to cover the dry fruit special in gold. The sweet is made of dry fruits and gulkhand and the silver sheet called vark was been replaced by the gold one.
Number#9 Chickpea, Saffron, and Chili Dunkin’ Donuts
Opening a fast-food chain in another country involves years of preparation that includes a tremendous amount of market research on people, palates and preferences— and Dunkin Donuts was no different
In India, Dunkin’ Donuts decided to inject an authentic taste of India into its Diwali donuts and has introduced quite a few varieties. For example, its Kesar Dadam donut has almond milk and saffron, and crushed pistachios. The Son Papdi donut is a flaky pastry coated with chickpea flour. And most intriguing of all, is the guava and chili-topped white chocolate donut.
Number#8 Is the Gold Paan
Can you believe this? Yamu’s Panchayat, a paan parlour located in Connaught Place, New Delhi, is selling gold pan for Rs 600. What’s so special about this pan? Several ingredients, including dry dates, cardamom, sweet chutney, gulkand, cloves and cherry bits apart from desiccated coconut, are used as filling in the gold paan. It is then covered with gold varq and garnished with cherries. It is perhaps one of the most expensive paans in the world. Number#7 Goan Baby Shark Curry Another interesting Indian food is Goan Baby Shark Curry. This curry is made from baby sharks that have been marinated in lemon juice and turmeric to create a tangy base.
Then, boiled chiles are added, followed by a paste of coconut, garlic, coriander, and more turmeric. You let the entire mixture heat and simmer, and then you have a delicious curry. For those who haven’t tried baby shark before, apparently the fish is very meaty in texture and, according to The Student Room, “quite delicious.”
Number#6 $78 Canned Butter Chicken
Butter chicken is a traditional Indian dish. Called Murgh Makhani, this curry is made from chicken with butter sauce and spiced tomato seasoning. It has a rich texture, and the cream often makes the sauce silky smooth. Though this dish originated in Northern India, it has become popular nationwide, especially when eaten with naan.
Though usually affordable, there is a $78 (Rs. 6000 for a portion for 2) butter chicken in Hyderabad. This chicken recipe, created by Software professionals Iran Bharat Saxena and Padma Prasad, took eight years to create, and it is made with Evian spring water, black olives, Godrej chicken, Danish Lurpak butter, and Filippo Berio olive oil. The dish is packed into a Borosil glass carton so that its flavor is contained. As a result of this packaging and ingredients, this dish is quite expensive.
Number# 5 Gold Plated Dosa
Dosas have been part of southern Indian cuisine for centuries. They have few ingredients, take a short time to prepare, and are one of the cheapest foods around — which makes them quite popular across all classes. In Bangalore, Karnataka, the Raj Bhog restaurant has taken the classic dosa and given it an injection of glam. Or should we say a coating of glam? A potato masala-stuffed rice and lentil pancake should only cost about $0.50 apiece. However, Raj Bhog patrons have the option to choose from a variety of dosas that have had 24-carat gold leaves draped over the top of them for forty times the price.
Number#4 Buffalo Spleen Snacks
You’ll need a strong stomach to handle this Indian snack. Far from chips, pretzels, and cookies, buffalo spleen is a delicacy in its own right. It is a street snack that originated in Pune, India, a city that was once the base of the Maratha Empire. The city is famous for Aga Khan’s Palace, as well as the Pataleshwar Cave Temple. When you’re done visiting those tourist attractions, you can snack on buffalo spleen from a street vendor. The spleen is grilled or roasted after being marinated. Believe it or not, it is actually reasonably healthy, as the spleen is high in protein and iron and is low-fat.
Number#3 The Exotica
The northern Indian city of Lucknow is home to incredibly designed temples, delicious street food, and India’s most expensive dessert, Exotica. The dry mithai is composed of a collection of ingredients from around the world, including American blueberries, Aussie and South African macadamia nuts, European hazelnuts, and a few others.
The most important (and expensive) of the sweet’s ingredients are the 100% edible gold leaves in which the internationally sourced ingredients have been incased. The expensive sweets have been packaged into a specially designed box “that increases the shelf life by 20-30 days.”
Number#2 bhut jolokia, The Hottest Chilli Pepper in the World
If you’re someone who winces at hot spicy food, then the bhut jolokia is definitely not for you. In 2007, Guiness World certified that it was the world’s hottest chili pepper, The ghost pepper, as its known, is cultivated specifically in Northeast India, and it is monstrously hot. It is 170x times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Yes, people do eat these, both as food and spice. It is commonly used with pork or dried fish.
Additionally, these peppers are used in smoke bombs to keep wild elephants at bay. In competitive pepper-eating contests, the bhut jolokia is a common sight that makes steam come out of tasters’ ears. Apart from fun and games, the Indian Army has chosen to turn this native chili into an actual weapon. After all, this “ghost chili” can stop a charging elephant—it can certainly lend a hand to shutting down terrorism.
The Indian Army created a flash-bang grenade made from hundreds of ground bhut jolokia seeds. Each pepper has a Scoville rating of 1 million units, and the pungent, choking effect of the pepper would easily force an insurgent or terrorist out of a hideout. According to the Indian Army, they plan to use the spicy grenade for crowd control and anti-terrorism purposes.
Number#1 Red Ant Chutney
Red ants are usually seen as scary predators of the natural world. After all, their stings are painful and can even prove fatal if enough bite you. Believe it or not, some people eat these ants. Red ant chutney is considered a delicacy in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli District. The Madia tribe, which dwells in the forests of the region, uses red ant chutney to provide a tangy flavor to its food. They crush and dry the ants and their eggs, then grind them using a mortar and pestle.
They then add coriander, garlic, and tomatoes before adding the chutney to foods like fish, ambadi, and vegetable curry.
