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New York’s City’s Luxury Indian restaurant called Indn introduced a brand new addition to their cocktail menu that is steeped in nostalgia. Co-founder Simran Bakshi who took to social media to talk about the ‘Two Minute Quickie’—used as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous catchphrase—said that the cocktail inspired by Maggi Masala holds a lot of nostalgic value to Indians. Predominantly savoury with a hint of sweetness, the drink was garnished with a single strand of the instant noodle although specifications about its base liquor and other ingredients are unknown. Bakshi also pointed that the establishment was known to conceptualise drinks rooted in nostalgia and called back to a Parle-G and chai-inspired cocktail that was also part of their menu and another one taking a leaf from the flavours of butter chicken.
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Coming up as a special feature within the high-end Indian restaurants of NYC, other acclaimed places have also drawn from familiar Indian flavours and transformed them into cocktails evocative of the motherland. Vikas Khanna’s Bungalow serves its A-List visitors a clarified mango lassi—a tequila-based creation flavoured with fresh mango, kewra and cardamom. Amongst other Indian-inspired libations on the menu, the Chai Pani introduces texture from toasted Parle-G crumble to a drink made using a clarified chai masala dark rum milk punch. Chef Vijay Kumar’s Michelin star awardee Semma makes the most of its South Indian cuisine by conjuring cocktails such as the Pushpa Punch—a blend of Indian rum, coriander, yoghurt, lemon, cumin and dried chilli spirit.
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The Naatu Crush promotes an indigenous Indian liquor known as tharra—that is paired with kokum, grapefruit, pomegranate, caraway and club soda—having vibrantly tangy layers. Borrowing from the abundance of fresh seasonal greens and herbs found across India, Manhattan’s Tamarind Tribeca spotlights unique ingredients in their Hariyali Cosmo—a vivid green variation of the vodka classic. Using cilantro liqueur in combination with cointreau, lime juice and vodka, the cocktail has flavours similar to pani puri. The Ginger Pepper Martini is also a great example of layered spice highlighted with pepper-infused vodka, ginger liqueur and lime juice.
