Foodhall Shopping Challenge: Five Cuisines For Five Meals, All Under INR 500

Think exotic, think Foodhall. With ingredients being sourced from all over the world, it’s our go-to place for meals that step it up a notch. But it can seem intimidatingly expensive. So we tried to see if we could plot a week’s worth of dinners – Monday to Friday – on a budget of INR 500 for each meal, keeping the cuisine unique for each one. Here’s how we fared.

A simple Italian meal can be an amazing experience. We found a huge collection of ready-to-eat sauces {as well as Jamie Oliver’s pesto collection, which we eyed longingly}. We picked up two classic items: a packet of fusilli pasta, and a pasta sauce with chopped wild mushrooms. For INR 150 and INR 255 each, we just bought ourselves a Lady And The Tramp-style date night at home for INR 405.

#LBBTip: If you’re in the mood for a side, go for the freshly baked garlic bread for INR 100 {going INR 5 over budget}.

We do love our sushi. So we had a few dishes in mind. Sushi rolls popped into our heads first. But we had to beat a hasty retreat when we realised just how expensive the items on their Japanese food aisle are. So we headed to the ready-to-eat section, where we found California rolls {with crab meat, crab stick, cucumber and lettuce} for INR 450, as well as ABC rolls {with asparagus, bell peppers and cheese} for INR 400.

On the other hand, if you’ve already got some leftovers at home which are prime for a Japanese makeover, pick up their tempura batter for INR 170, or cooked sushi rice for INR 330.

For Mexican, we were thinking on the lines of street-style Mexican food – either ready-to-go packs, or individual items that can be used to make them. So we decided between a fajita dinner kit {if you’re really lazy} for INR 225, and tortillas {INR 275} with canned black beans for INR 195. Our total expenditure would be, at most, INR 470.

For a Thai-inspired meal, we were honestly spoilt for choice with the range of curries and sauces they had. So we picked up some Thai-style dried basil {INR 99}, some tom yum noodles {INR 179}, and Thai green curry sauce for INR 120. We’re planning on taking these home and making a noodle-laden, totally spicy curry. Total expenditure: INR 398.

Who doesn’t love a bit of hummus, especially it’s been sourced from the Middle East? For our Middle Eastern inspired meal, we picked up hummus, which we’ll eat with pitta bread with a side of olives. We got the ALfez’s Hummus Dip for INR 195, a packet of whole wheat pitta bread for INR 60, and American Garden’s jar of pitted green olives for INR 179. Total expenditure? INR 434.

We think we managed to scale and conquer Foodhall, and are already planning our next trip there. They also do food tasting sessions, so the next time you head there, consider the first meal to be on the house.