Table Of ContentCooking on
pennies
Copyright © 2021 Kunal Patankar
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9798647431073
Budgeting menu
What to expect in this book?
1 / Daal – The 50c meal
A simple, no fancy skill needed, wholesome meal made from lentils 8
and chickpeas.
How to Keep the Cost down & yet maintain a High Quality? – Part 1
18
Where to Buy from
2 / Tortilla – The 35c breakfast
A fl uffy, slightly juicy Spanish omelet made with eggs, potatoes and 24
onions
How to Keep the Cost down & yet maintain a High Quality? – Part 1
30
How to Buy
3 / Thai Shrimp Pot Rice
32
A staple meal inspired by a random discovery in an Asian store
4 / Mirza Ghasemi / Baingan Bharta
A variation based of a typical smoky, grilled eggplant based recipe 36
commonly found in India, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey
The French Saffron Farmer 42
5 / Spring Onions Pitla – My favorite Vegan recipe
A variation of a simple countryside recipe from Western India made
44
with fresh spring onions and chickpea fl our… Has a dense, saucy
texture
6 / Bharleli Vangi – Eggplant Masala
A variation based on a popular eggplant recipe from Western In- 50
dian, involving Mint based curry
The Spanish Donkey 54
7 / Taiwanese Spicy Lamb Noodle Soup
56
A variation based on the Taiwanese Spicy beef noodle soup
8 / Okra & Shrimp masala – Signature dish
64
A fusion recipe based on Western Indian and Spanish style cooking
Many, many Thanks to... 70
Kunal Patankar
What to expect
in this book?
Decent cooking doesn’t “have” to be someone who doesn’t want to
expensive. compromise on variety and joy of food
“and” still control the expenses.
... Regardless of whether you are
cooking just for yourself, for two, for Hence the name... “Cooking on
your family, or hosting a dinner. Pennies”.
But we might know from experience, Even though I am originally from
that just a couple of dinners, with India, most of my cooking life is based
people we like, ends up in a few on my time in Europe plus I also
hundred bucks, when we eat out love Asian food and I keep randomly
(assuming you are in a city). exploring new grocery stores to
discover new ingredients to play
But then cooking at home isn’t always around with. Hence the book contains
feasible... and we may not have a a bit of various styles of food, with a
diverse enough cooking skill that also lot of fusions involved.
fits our budget...
Also at home I usually cook
That’s what this book’s about... vegetarian or vegan food, but
occasionally I enjoy the umami of
Over the years, I have realized some meat or fish. Hence regardless
that most of my recipes are well of your style and preference of food, I
within $10 and it has helped hope you find a bit of something that
me tremendously to keep my you may like and hopefully discover
personal finances in control, yet not some new inspiration... And end up
compromising on my love for food saving money.
(and this doesn’t involve frozen pizza,
hot dogs or instant ramen).
Hence even though, technically this
is a cookbook, it’s also a personal
finance book... Especially for
6
Kunal Patankar
Pricing note:
The following recipes have a break- and hopefully discover some new
down explaining the costs involved in inspiration... And end up saving
preparing an affordable meal, whether money.
it’s for a couple, single person, a
family or whether you are hosting a Also it’s not just about recipes and the
dinner party. cost that goes into making them...
The costs are estimated based on I have tried to share my experiences
an audience in Europe (most of it), and memories related to this journey
North America, and Australia. The of food, the people I shared it with
assumption is that this generalizes and the places that were part of this
this book for any expensive city. I “journey”. So it’s kind of a cookbook,
have considered the estimate based on but infused with personal fi nance and
my time living & traveling through social & cultural aspects... and of
most of Europe and a bit in Americas. course a bit of history!
Combined with “How” one goes
about “Buying”, which is explained ... Now presenting one of the most
in detail in the following chapters, affordable, yet truly delicious thing I
the estimate is relatable & realistic know about...
regardless of where you reside in the
above mentioned regions.
Knowing the grocery prices, at least
in some parts of Asia, let’s assume
the costs there to be realistically less
that what’s mentioned in the recipes
(subject to where you buy it from).
The other aspect is time frame. The
estimate considers the year range 2018
to 2021. I will refrain from predicting
the prices for the future .
Hence regardless of your style and
preference of food, I hope you fi nd
a bit of something that you may like
7
Kunal Patankar
Daal
$0.53
That’s how most of the world knows this dish “Daal”, which literally translates
as “Lentils”. In the most basic version of this recipe, it is simply that, boiled
lentils, with a bit of salt & sugar to taste with a bit of turmeric as a seasoning.
There’s no animal product involved as well, if you like, which makes this dish
truly vegan.
What I really love about this dish, apart from the wholesome taste...
is the pricing:
TEA SPOONS QUANTITY FOR QUANTITY FOR COST*
FOR 1 / FOR 3 MEAL FOR 1 MEAL FOR 3 FOR 1 / FOR 3
RED SPLIT
- 50 gm 150 gm $0.12 / $0.36
LENTILS
PEELED HALF
- 40 gm 120 gm $0.12 / $0.36
CHICKPEAS
COOKING OIL - 10 ml 30 ml $0.02 / $0.06
TURMERIC ½ / 1 1 gm 3 gm $0.01 / $0.03
CUMIN SEEDS ½ / 1 1 gm 3 gm $0.01 / $0.03
DRY FENUGREEK
1 / 2 ½ gm 1.5 gm $0.005 / $0.015
LEAVES
RICE (BASMATI) - 100 gm 150 gm $0.25 / $0.75
SALT & SUGAR - AS PER TASTE AS PER TASTE ~$0
WATER - 1.5 l 3 l ~$0
TOTAL $0.53 / $1.60
*optimal cost & quality buying method explained in the next chapter
That’s almost 50c to feed a person with a decent meal!
Now we might begin to understand why hundreds of millions of people in
South-west Asia have this recipe as their staple food.
Additionally, there’s no artificial or processed ingredient involved … also most
of the ingredients can be easily stored for months (in the right conditions).
Hence I end up returning to this recipe from time to time (and my wallet is
deeply in love with it).
8
CoKoukninagl Poant apneknanries
9
KKuunnaall PPaattaannkkaarr
Fun fact: In the state of Maharashtra,
where Mumbai lies, this recipe
is called as “Varan” (वरण). This
recipe is such an integral part of the
culture that it is a synonym for being
“cultured”... (If you find yourself in a
conversation where you are accused of
not having Varan... it probably isn’t a
compliment).
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