Twinkle Khanna Takes a Satirical Dig at Tukaram Mundhe’s Food Raids: “My Shahi Masala Expired Around the Mughal Empire”

Twinkle Khanna has brought her trademark humour to the conversation around food safety inspections in Maharashtra, joking about Tukaram Mundhe’s recent crackdown and even imagining a raid on her own kitchen.

Twinkle Khanna has once again turned a major talking point into a dose of sharp satire.

The author, columnist and former actor recently shared an excerpt from her popular Mrs Funnybones column on Instagram, offering her humorous take on the heightened conversation around food safety inspections and raids on eateries.

Using her signature observational humour, Twinkle referenced Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe and the attention surrounding food safety action against restaurants and food businesses.

But rather than delivering a conventional commentary on inspections and compliance, Twinkle took readers on a comic journey—from childhood fair snacks and restaurant food to an imaginary raid on her own kitchen.

And somewhere along the way, she discovered what may have been her most amusing find: a packet of Shahi Masala that, according to her, had apparently expired “around the same time as the Mughal Empire.”

Twinkle Khanna Brings Her Trademark Humour to Food Safety Buzz

Twinkle shared the excerpt from her column through a series of Instagram slides on August 30.

The writer began by recalling the brightly coloured buddhi ke baal, or cotton candy, associated with Indian fairs. In typical Twinkle fashion, however, the nostalgic memory quickly took an unexpected turn.

“In the good old days, when I went to melas rather than acting in one, buddhi ke baal used to be a fluorescent pink,” she wrote.

She then joked that the disappearance of the bright pink colour could be linked to the current food safety focus.

Twinkle went on to reference Tukaram Mundhe and the wider discussion around restaurant inspections.

“Hundreds of restaurants have fallen like dominoes in his wake, including Domino’s. Where Mundhe goes, mundis roll,” she wrote, using a playful wordplay characteristic of her satirical writing style.

The humour was clearly aimed at the public conversation surrounding the food safety drive rather than offering a straightforward commentary on the official actions themselves.

The Funniest Part? An Imaginary Raid on Her Own Kitchen

Twinkle then brought the food safety theme closer to home.

Inspired, as she wrote, by Mundhe’s inspections, she imagined carrying out a raid in her own kitchen.

That fictional inspection produced an alarming discovery—at least according to Twinkle’s comic account.

“I find a packet of Shahi Masala that expired around the same time as the Mughal Empire,” she joked.

The observation then developed into a wider satire involving India’s historical debates and Mughlai cuisine.

“Those who want to erase the Mughals from our history books should first start with lunch. Give up your koftas, kormas, kebabs. You can’t have your Mughlai paneer, real or analogue, and eat it too,” she wrote.

The passage combined food, history and contemporary cultural debate in the kind of tongue-in-cheek style for which the Mrs Funnybones author is widely known.

From Kitchen Inspections to Restaurant Anxiety

Twinkle’s humorous food safety journey did not end in her kitchen.

The column then moved to a restaurant setting, where she imagined asking a server whether the establishment had been inspected.

“We order tandoori broccoli and chicken tikka. Then I ask the server, ‘Has Mundhe checked your restaurant?’” she wrote.

In the imagined exchange, the server responds that the restaurant had been inspected and had passed.

For Twinkle’s character in the column, that appeared to provide enough reassurance to order paneer tikka without fear.

But, naturally, the meal did not go entirely according to plan.

The Birth of ‘Mundhe’s Martini’

The column’s food-and-drink satire took another unexpected turn when Twinkle described stabbing a piece of paneer with a toothpick.

Before it could reach her mouth, the paneer reportedly collapsed into her martini.

Instead of asking for a replacement drink, Twinkle decided the mishap deserved a new name.

“I consider asking for a new drink. Then I decide it’s an appropriate toast. I christen it Mundhe’s Martini,” she wrote.

The fictional cocktail recipe?

“Gin, vermouth, olive and paneer. Shaken, not stirred.”

The line perfectly summed up the playful tone of the column, transforming an ordinary restaurant mishap into a comic reference to food inspections and one of cinema’s most famous cocktail descriptions.

Why Twinkle Khanna’s Satire Works

Twinkle Khanna has built a strong identity as a writer through her ability to find humour in ordinary experiences.

Her columns frequently move between family life, food, relationships, popular culture and current events, often using exaggeration and irony to make larger observations.

In this case, the topic of food safety inspections becomes a backdrop for a series of everyday comic situations.

An old spice packet becomes a historical relic. A restaurant inspection becomes a customer’s new standard for ordering food. And a piece of paneer falling into a cocktail becomes an entirely new drink.

The humour works because it takes a serious and widely discussed subject and filters it through familiar everyday experiences.

For readers, the joke is not necessarily about food safety itself. It is about the way public conversation around a major issue can suddenly enter every aspect of daily life.

Food Safety Becomes a Major Talking Point

The recent attention around food safety inspections has brought restaurant hygiene, expired ingredients and compliance practices into the wider public conversation.

For consumers, food safety is a serious issue involving the quality, storage, preparation and handling of what they eat.

For restaurants and food businesses, regulatory inspections are part of the broader system designed to enforce applicable food safety standards.

Twinkle’s column uses this heightened public awareness as the basis for satire.

Her imagined kitchen raid, complete with an ancient packet of masala, reflects a familiar experience for many households: discovering a forgotten food item at the back of a cupboard and immediately checking the expiry date.

By exaggerating that everyday situation, Twinkle turns a simple domestic moment into a comic extension of the larger food safety conversation.

Social Media Reacts to the Writer’s Latest Humour

Twinkle shared the excerpt from her Mrs Funnybones column with her followers on Instagram, once again putting her distinctive writing style on display.

Her social media posts often extend the reach of her columns, allowing readers to engage with her humour and observations beyond traditional print or digital publishing formats.

The latest excerpt also demonstrates why her writing continues to stand out.

Twinkle rarely approaches an everyday topic directly. Instead, she creates unexpected connections.

In this case, food safety inspections lead to cotton candy. Cotton candy leads to hair roots. Restaurant inspections lead to an imaginary kitchen raid. And an old spice packet leads all the way back to the Mughal Empire.

The result is a comic chain of thought that is unmistakably Twinkle Khanna.

Twinkle Khanna’s Recent Work

Beyond her long-running identity as a columnist and author, Twinkle has continued to remain active in entertainment and media.

She recently co-hosted Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle alongside actor Kajol. The show streams on Prime Video.

The pairing brought together two well-known personalities with a reputation for candid opinions and humour.

While her professional journey has taken her from acting to writing, entrepreneurship and media, Twinkle’s public voice has remained closely associated with wit and satire.

Her latest column excerpt continues that tradition.

Whether she is joking about an expired masala packet, historical references or a paneer-filled martini, Twinkle has once again found a way to turn an ongoing public conversation into something uniquely entertaining.

And if her imaginary kitchen raid is anything to go by, many households may now be inspired to check the back of their spice cupboards.