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Last week, we had published an article about Anaarkali Butter Chicken which at Rs 6000 for a portion for two is probably the most expensive butter chicken in the world. One of our readers was fortunate enough to get to eat this preparation and has been kind enough to share his opinion of this marvelous creation. Enjoy!!
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The world's classiest butter chicken and other gastronomic adventures- by Narendra Shenoy
On Sunday, I had The World's Classiest Butter Chicken. This was courtesy my brother in law Ajay Sharma, who serendipitously discovered it on Facebook and was intrigued by its price. For the site says, in the most apologetic manner, that it costs Rs. 6000 per portion and very sorry but that's what it costs. They don't offer much of an explanation other than that they use fine ingredients including Evian mineral water (which tastes terrible on its own, if you ask me) and Hunt's tomato paste (which I have never heard about).
There were a few who, very rightly, ranted on the Facebook page, that they must be out of their mind to price, at Rs. 6000, something like a butter chicken, excellent specimens of which are available for Rs. 200 or less a portion.
As if in anticipation of these kind of responses, the site actually suggests two places which serve excellent butter chicken (Moti Mahal and Mughal Mahal) where the stuff is way cheaper. It's just that OUR butter chicken is Rs. 6000 per portion, they say. They don't say "period" after that sentence but you can just sense it.
Ajay, of course, gastronome that he is, promptly became their fan on Facebook and wrote them an appreciative comment. And lo, they decided to gift him a sample of their Butter Chicken - one portion flown in from Hyderabad (where it is made, and where it is sold) for his exclusive enjoyment.
I rushed to sample the stuff as soon as I heard about it, partly because of the fact that I was getting it free and partly because I was very hungry, the missus having decided basically to starve me, over the last few weeks, with egg whites, celery, iceberg lettuce and other things currently banned under the Geneva convention.
At Ajay's house, I ran into the founders of Anaarkali themselves. A youngish couple, one Mr. I. B. Saxena and Ms. Padma Prasad, they had personally carried their culinary masterpiece with them. I was touched.
They were extremely reticent and seemed embarassed at all the gushing appreciation about their business spirit that Ajay and I were heaping on them. Eventually, we got them to talk a bit about themselves and found out that they cooked it themselves. Personally. No cooks, lackeys, assistant vice-presidents, nothing! Moreover, they're pretty successful businesspeople in everyday life, worth many doubloons and in no n eed for the moolah they must be earning from this venture, if indeed they earn any. Amazing!
Anyway I'll cut a long story short and say that the butter chicken was awesome. Superb. Excellent. Definitely the best butter chicken in the world!
Ok, I'm probably not the world's leading authority on butter chicken, my earlier experience of it having been the "Lalit" butter chicken of Goregaon West. Lalit, a fine restaurant in my opinion, interprets "butter chicken" as "butter 50%, chicken 50%". This makes it yummy but unidimensional. Anarkali's version, on the other hand, is a lot more sophisticated. It has many nuances of flavour, with ingredients like saffron and olives finding their way into the plot.
Comparing "Anaarkali" to "Lalit" is not fair. It's a bit like comparing Laurence Olivier to Akshay Kumar. But like all bourgeois, I could not but ask myself the inevitable commercial question "Is it worth Rupees Six thousand"?
The answer, dear reader, is a resounding "yes"!
Provided, of course, that it is somebody else's Rupees Six Thousand.
No, I'm being mean there. I would pay 6000 for this butter chicken. It would have to be an occassion, though. The chairmanship of the Federal Reserve, perhaps. Or appointment to the casting department of some prominent bollywood production house.
Something befitting the Classiest Butter Chicken in the world.
Article contributed by Narendra Shenoy.
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Whats the most expensive Butter Chicken you have had? Well, we happened to stumble on the most expensive Butter Chicken-called Anaarkali. Anaarkali is currently available in Hyderabad, India. The makers of Anaarkali call it the classiest Butter Chicken on earth. Probably classiest and costliest would be more apt.
Well, how expensive is it? It costs Rs 6,000 (approx US$150) for a portion for two. What makes it so expensive, read more to find out.
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The makers of Anaarkali say that it took them 8 years to perfect the recipe and the recipe uses only the finest ingredients available such as
- Lurpak Unsalted Butter
- Dabur Real Honey
- Hunt's Tomato Paste
- Taj Mahal Saffron and
- Godrej's Real Chicken
They also use fresh hand picked vegetables for their recipe. They also employ a 40 point quality process to make sure that the Butter Chicken is of the highest quality. Butter Chicken is also viewed as being unhealthy and fattening but the makers of Anaarkali have taken added care to ensure that its healthy as well. 1 serving is about 420 calories. At these prices, its not like you are going to eat this every day so I probably would not worry if its not terribly unhealthy anyway.
How does one order Anaarkali Butter Chicken? Well, for starters, its available only in Hyderabad. You can go to their website http://www.anaarkali.in and order online. They need at least 24 hours advance notice.
Well, would you pay Rs 6,000 for some great Butter Chicken. We know someone who did taste it and we will have their review soon.
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If you love Indian fish then you have probably experienced the frustration of not finding popular Indian fishes like Pomfret or King fish in your local grocery stores. The local American grocery stores in the US typically sell Salmon, Catfish or Tilapia which are not found in India. Fish is a large part of our family diet and we are always on the lookout for good fish.
Seattle has a diverse international population with a lot of expats with Asian and Indian backgrounds and is fortunate enough to have grocery store chain called H-Mart and Ranch-99. H-Mart is a Korean store and has a wonderful seafood section where you can find good selection of Indian fish such as the Black Pomfret, White Pomfret, Kingfish, Mackerel. The entire store is extremely clean and well lit. The seafood section has fresh fish, shrimp, crabs and lobster as well. Besides buying seafood, its a great store to do your regular grocery. Ranch 99 is another Asian store where you can find fresh fish.
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The Seattle area has one store H-Mart in Federal Way, one H-Mart in Lynnwood and one Ranch 99 in Edmonds. Address : 31217 Pacific Hwy S, Federal Way WA 98003
Telephone :253.528.0500
Hours : 8 AM - 9:30 PM ---------------------------- Address :22511 Highway 99, Edmonds, WA 98037
Telephone :425.670.1899
Hours : 9 AM - 9:00 PM --------------------------- Address :3301 184th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037
Telephone :425.776.0858
Hours : 8 AM - 9:30 PM
If you are unable to travel to any of these 3 locations, then you may be able to find the fish in your local Indian grocery stores but you will only find frozen fish. We have typically been disappointed with the fish in the Indian grocery stores as we are not sure when it was packed.
The Indian Food & Grocery section of the website has a list of such stores. The site currently has over 2000 Indian food & grocery stores listed in the United States. If you think one of the stores has incorrect data or if you have a new store you would like listed, please do contact us. We would greatly appreciate it, if you would provide a review of these stores.
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(1 vote, average 1.00 out of 5)
We are very proud of this achievement in just over a year and are looking forward to hitting the 20,000 mark. If you would like more information contact us .
| {mosimage} | If you love Indian fish then you have probably experienced the frustration of not finding popular Indian fishes like Pomfret or King fish in your local grocery stores. The local American grocery stores in the US typically sell Salmon, Catfish or Tilapia which are not found in India. Fish is a large part of our family diet and we are always on the lookout for good fish. Dallas has a diverse international population with a lot of expats with Asian and Indian backgrounds and we were fortunate enough to find a grocery store chain called H-Mart. H-Mart is a Korean store and has a wonderful seafood section where you can find good selection of Indian fish such as the Black Pomfret, White Pomfret, Kingfish, Mackerel. The entire store is extremely clean and well lit. The seafood section has fresh fish, shrimp, crabs and lobster as well. Besides buying seafood, its a great store to do your regular grocery.
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The Dallas area has one store in Carrollton. Address : 2625 Old Denton Rd. #200
Carrollton, TX 75007 Telephone : 972-323-9700 Hours : 8 AM - 10 PM If you are unable to travel to Carrollton, then you may be able to find the fish in your local Indian grocery stores but you will only find frozen fish. We have typically been disappointed with the fish in the Indian grocery stores as we are not sure when it was packed. The Indian Food & Grocery section of the website has a list of such stores. The site currently has over 2000 Indian food & grocery stores listed in the United States. If you think one of the stores has incorrect data or if you have a new store you would like listed, please do contact us. We would greatly appreciate it, if you would provide a review of these stores.
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