Gunpowder

Gunpowder is a simply designed little restaurant right off Commercial Street serving inventive takes on Indian food that are uniformly delicious and even better than some of the poshest spots around town. And while Gunpowder may share some dishes in common with both Indian restaurants around town and traditional Indian homes, they repackage them into something entirely new.

Take, for example, the spicy venison and vermicelli donut. This is Gunpowder’s take on keema, which is typically minced and spiced beef or mutton served with bread. Here the spicy venison is stuffed inside of a doughnut that looks like some sort of sea creature. Cut it open, expose its meaty guts, and serve it to your friends. Or there’s the classic tamarind rasam, which comes served as a shot with an orb-shaped dosa crisp floating in the glass. “rasam ke bomb” indeed. Bottoms up.

You get the idea. Gunpowder is a place that you come to with friends, passing plates from one side of the table to the other while you look at each other with surprise and delight and also a little bit of fear because you just ate far more than you intended to and have to get up far too early to be having this much fun.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Food Rundown

Rasam Ke Bomb

A light, lentil-filled crisp, served with a traditional tamarind-based rasam soup in a shot glass. This one’s a perfect example of Gunpowder taking home-style Indian dishes and remixing them in a way that’s inventive and delicious.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Porzhi Okra Fries

A perfect bowl of fried okra bits you absolutely won’t be able to stop eating. Someone please make a bag of crisps out of these.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Spicy Venison And Vermicelli Doughnut

A delicious, crunchy, fun ball of deliciousness. This might be our favorite thing at Gunpowder.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Maa’s Kashmiri Lamb Chops

Standard lamb chop. Outstanding execution.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Aloo Chaat

Gunpowder’s take on aloo chaat—potatoes and chickpeas covered with yoghurt—is incredibly flavorful and must be on your table.

photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

Karwari Soft Shell Crab Saag With Tandoori Paneer

All of the crab cooked in all of the amazing spices. No, we’re not going to share this with the rest of the table. Get your own.