PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 75 Manish’s dish selections also make Aurum a bit of a maverick: “We have a lot of unconventional recipes; not even Indians have heard about them. So that’s the play: bring that nostalgia and surprise for everyone.” Take Aurum’s Mr. Potato appetizer. It’s a potato chaat, a familiar street food from West Bengal, but Aurum doesn’t load the bowl up with chutney as might be expected. “Mr. Potato comes like, ‘I’m the king of this dish,’” Manish describes. “The sauces and other elements are there in layers.” There’s also the jhalmuri, a puffed rice and radish salad from northeast India not often seen on menus—and served in a statement-making, smokeinfused jar. Then there’s dosa. “Every Indian knows about it,” Manish says of the savory crepe. “If you think about Italian, you’re gonna have pizza and pasta on your mind, right? If you think about South Indian, you think dosa.” He keeps it on the menu, but as a bridge. “I can tell people, ‘Hey, this is also from the same region. And you don’t know about it.’”
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