Review: Burgundy Box's DIY

The brain child of two bankers and a marketer, Burgundy Box has long been serving ready-made and DIY (Do it Yourself) gourmet meals, appetisers and desserts. The DIY (Do it Yourself) variety requires a bit more time and effort but judging from my experience, it's worth it. So without much ado, there are three steps to enjoying a DIY Burgundy Box (Do it Yourself):

1. Order it

My motive for doing the review was to give my mother a much-needed break and my family a nice Sunday treat. Since we are a family of four, I chose two main courses for lunch - Vegetable Thai Red Curry with Steamed Rice and Aloo Bhukhara Kofte with 4 Laccha Parathas. The DIY boxes are not cheap (ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 500) but when you see the quality and quantity, you'll know why. There is a good selection of Indian and international appetisers, side dishes, mains and desserts to choose from.

2. Cook it

Ingredients for Thai Curry

Ingredients for Aloo Bukhara Kofte

I asked for the boxes to be delivered at 1, completely overlooking the fact that we'd need time to prepare the dishes! And on top of that, there was a delay due to the weather and the fact that my residence is far away from Goregaon. The boxes arrived at 1:45 and I was feeling really guilty about making my family wait. But all our faces broke out in smiles when we opened the boxes and saw the neatly packed ingredients, all measured, chopped and numbered as per the steps in the recipe card. The Burgundy Box team had done everything possible to simplify the cooking process.

Preparing the Vegetable Red Thai Curry

For the Vegetable Thai Curry, they had provided everything from the curry paste, coconut milk and vegetables to the little items like stock and oil. All we had to do was roast the items and put them together in a pan in the right order. The rice was already cooked but I sprinkled some water on it and microwaved it for a minute as per the instructions. The result was a beautiful large bowl of fragrant Thai Curry and rice that was as good as freshly cooked.

Cooking the Kofta curry

The Kofta Curry didn't go as smoothly as the first dish, probably because we switched to a non-stick pan which tends to heat very quickly. The box contained the gravy, the koftas and packets of spice powder, a carton of ghee and seasoning consisting of cream and coriander. What we had to do was roast the gravy in ghee, add the koftas, simmer and then season with cream and coriander. The only problem was the instructions said "roast the ghee for 30 seconds" and on the non-stick pan, the ghee browned in mere seconds. A burning smell rent the air and my mom and I went into hysterics. We rushed through the rest of the steps. The koftas were excellent but the gravy didn't taste as good as expected. The Burgundy Box team had done a great job with the laccha parathas - all we had to do was cook them some more on both sides and apply some ghee.

3. Eat it

Final dish: Vegetable Thai Red Curry with Steamed Rice

We managed to have both dishes ready (even with all my photography) by 3 PM. It was late but the food was so scrumptious and filling that all was forgiven. I rate the Thai Curry and Rice 5/5. Be it the taste, quantity or freshness, this dish was perfect and as good as any A-grade Thai restaurant. Following the recipe card served as a great trial in case we wanted to make it again on our own. I was afraid that the red curry would be too spicy but it was just right.

Final dish: Aloo Bukhara Kofte with Laccha Paratha

It was with some trepidation that we ladled the kofta curry and parathas on to our plates. But the koftas were dreamily perfect - full of creamy cottage cheese and rich dry fruit filling. The parathas were crisp and delicious too. But the gravy was a bit of a let-down. I don't know if it was because of our over-roasting the ghee or the gravy itself. But the experience proved to me that if you're an absolute novice, you might end up making errors even with all the assistance provided.

The quantities were gigantic and we were completely full with the meal. It's tough to get that feeling in a restaurant without paying through your nose. And if you attempted complicated dishes like aloo bukhara from scratch, you'd take really long.

So, there you have it. You have a gourmet meal ready in 30 minutes at half the price of a restaurant item (since the quantity is equal to two portions). Do I recommend it? Certainly. I only have two suggestions for Burgundy Box - change the preparation time from 10-15 to 20-30 minutes because it does take that much time. Secondly, provide boxes made of water-resistant material during the monsoons. Ready to order?