Most Luxurious and Expensive Indian Dishes

India is the land of surprises, especially when it comes to food, boasting a plethora of dishes which are full of rich flavours and textures.

From street vendors to restaurants, no matter where you go to get your Indian food, it is guaranteed to be delicious.

Typically, Indian dishes contain common ingredients which come together to make a wonderful plate of food.

However, some chefs like to go further with their creations by using ingredients which can be quite extravagant.

They will either make the dish even tastier or for decorative purposes. One thing that they potentially do is make them very expensive.

A variety of dishes will be appealing to foodies but may not be good for their wallets.

We look at some of the most luxurious Indian dishes and the thought behind their creations.

Gold Leaf Dosa

This extravagant version of the popular snack is the brainchild of the Rajbhog restaurant in Bangalore.

No matter what vegetable or spice you want in your dosa, at this restaurant, it is possible.

Over 100 varieties of dosa are served at this restaurant and this includes the luxurious gold dosa.

It looks like a regular dosa but is adorned with gold leaf foil to make it much more unique.

Approximately 0.1 milligrams of gold foil shimmer on the dosa, which you can choose whatever filling you like.

For those who order a gold dosa, it is served on a silver platter along with a tumbler of tender coconut water.

The centrepiece rests on a banana leaf which is cut to provide a cosy fit for the dosa and is surrounded by shredded cabbage, carrot and beetroot.

One person who tried the extravagant dosa described it as “the best gift I could give my mouth till now.”

He added: “An experience worth cherishing and blogging.”

While it does provide a rare experience, it does not come cheap. One gold dosa will cost Rs. 1,011 (£11), this compares to anything between Rs. 50 (55p) to Rs. 120 (£1.30) for regular dosas.

While it is a dazzling dosa to try, prepare to part with a good sum of money to try this luxurious Indian snack.

Seafood Treasure

The Seafood Treasure, also known as Samundari Khazana, is one of the world’s most expensive dishes thanks to many of its ingredients.

It is served up at London restaurant Bombay Brasserie and was created to coincide with the DVD launch of Slumdog Millionaire, in 2009.

The Seafood Treasure is the creation of Head Chef Prahlad Hegde and was actually inspired by his mother.

He said: “The idea is from a basic Indian recipe I got from my mum but we are using the finest ingredients in the world.”

The chef uses Devon crab and white truffle to prepare the dish, while his assistant presses gold leaf foil to half a cherry tomato filled with Beluga caviar.

While these are luxury elements to the dish, the centrepiece is a whole Scottish lobster, which costs £80 (Rs. 7,300). This is also coated in gold leaf.

Edible gold leaf is priced at a hefty £1,000 (Rs. 91,000) for just 10 grams.

Four sea snails are also cooked and placed, they cost a whopping £300 (Rs. 27,300) per kilo.

Chef Hegde adds five shavings of truffle to the seafood masterpiece, which costs £90 (Rs. 8,200).

In total, Seafood Treasure costs £2,000 (Rs. 1.8 Lakhs) per portion making it the world’s most expensive curry.

Gold Dry-Fruit Mithai

Mithai is one of India’s most popular sweets and is enjoyed by many. Usually, it is not very expensive to buy, but for one shop in Surat, Gujarat, they created a mithai which is the pinnacle of luxury.

The appropriately named ‘24 Carat Mithai Magic’ has become known for selling premium sweets using the finest ingredients.

Many of the mithai sold feature the normal ingredients. However, as the name suggests, every mithai is covered with gold leaf foil.

Their most luxurious mithai is a dry fruit sweet covered in 24-carat gold leaf. It was created for Raksha Bandhan celebrations in 2018.

This is a change from the silver leaf that they usually use as owner Radha Mithaiwala said:

“The sweet is made of dry fruits and gulkhand and we have replaced the silver sheet we generally use for covering sweets with a gold one this year to make Raksha Bandhan celebrations grand.”

All this comes at a hefty Rs. 9,000 (£99) per kilo, however, this did not stop customers from buying the expensive sweet.

Radha added: “People have already shown interest in the sweet and are buying it in portions and placing orders.”

The idea to put gold leaf on mithai according to Radha is down to the health benefits it possesses.

Mithaiwala said: “In place of silver, we have used pure gold leaf as it is beneficial for health.”

His belief of the health benefits was a success as more customers purchased the luxury sweet.

As well as the gold mithai, 24 Carat Mithai Magic have created a modern twist on the traditional Ghari sweets.

They are prepared in 17 different flavours including chocolate, strawberry, mango and many others.

But for the gold dry-fruit mithai, despite the high-cost, they are the main attraction for 24 Carat Mithai Magic.

Anaarkali Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is one of India’s most popular dishes, boasting a creamy texture and delicious flavours.

However, this recipe goes one step further by using specific ingredients to provide a more unique experience.

The Anaarkali butter chicken is the creation of software professionals Iran Bhagat Saxena and Padma Prasad, who took eight years to make.

The dish is not your typical luxury food as it does not use out of the ordinary ingredients like caviar or white truffles.

It is made using natural spring water, Hunt’s tomato paste and a pack of unsalted butter. These ingredients would not make the price expensive.

However, the luxury factor is increased by adding specks of gold and silver leaf throughout the dish.

It is also packed in a Borosil glass container to hold the flavour of the dish. The container is microwave-proof and comes with a pyramid-shaped lid.

For the dish which can just about feed two adults will cost Rs. 6,000 (£65).

While there have been critics saying it is not authentic and that they’re adding unnecessary ingredients, it has been quite successful.

It is an expensive dish, but it is not all about money for the young entrepreneurs as Rs. 800 (£8.70) of the bill goes to a charity of your choice.

It truly is one of the most unique dishes which promises a unique experience.

Pulasa Fish Curry

Finding a delicious fish curry to eat is not difficult in India and many are reasonably cheap.

However, it is a different story when wanting to try a pulasa fish curry.

The fish species is very famous in Andhra Pradesh and is only available during the monsoon season.

It is said that the fish swims from the sea to the Godavari river when flood waters turn it red. The pulasa fish changes colour and its taste become even better.

The most popular recipe is Pulasa Pulusu, a spicy gravy with tamarind, okra and green chillies.

Despite the dish being one of the tastiest in India, it is also one of the rarest.

The food is hardly available in restaurants and those which do have it, Pulasa Pulusu is served during the season if available.

As the fish is only available for a short period of time each year, it is highly sought after.

This makes pulasa expensive, costing between Rs. 3,000 (£33) to Rs. 4,000 (£44) per kilo. During peak season, it may even range from Rs. 7,000 (£77) to Rs. 8,000 (£88).

For those lucky enough to try Pulasa Pulusu, savour each moment because it may be a while until you get to enjoy the luxury dish again.

Black Truffle Dal

One of the most popular vegetarian foods in the Indian subcontinent is dal. It is one of the most important staple foods and uses a variety of lentils to make them.

It is typically a simple dish but because there are so many variations, it gives you the chance to enhance it into a luxurious food.

That is what Indian-origin food writer Tina Dawson did when she created her take on toor dal.

While it looks like a normal dal, it contains shavings of black truffle.

This makes it all the more luxury and quite expensive with just this ingredient.

Black truffle ranges between £780 (Rs. 69,000) to £1,500 (Rs. 1.3 Lakhs) per kilogram, depending on the type of truffle.

They are expensive because they only grow under specific conditions. Truffles also grow underground which means only pigs and trained dogs can dig them out.

This makes them difficult to come by but if you are lucky enough to have it on food, it adds more to the dish.

The black truffle in the toor dal adds a subtle earthy flavour to the usually muted creaminess of the lentils.

It is a dish which you can also make if you can get a hold of black truffles. If you do, this is the most luxurious dal dish to try.

These luxury Indian foods have been created by both amateur and professional chefs from around the world.

Their take on classic Indian dishes use extravagant ingredients that are not typically seen. This has made many of the dishes expensive.

The price tag may put people off but if you try some of these dishes, it is an experience you will remember.