London, Aug 25 - India's outgoing envoy to Britain Tuesday defended Richard Dannatt as a 'gracious host' after the British Chief of the General Staff was revealed as having served his Indian and other guests with a fiver-a-head cut-price meal a year ago.

Sir Richard Dannatt, who is soon to retire, hosted then High Commissioner Shiv Mukherjee, visiting Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and 21 others for a reception in August last year at his plush Kensington Palace residence.

But rather than delicacies from the nearby upmarket Harrods superstore, they were given pastries, cheese and salmon bought from the supermarket Tesco.

The entire meal cost a mere 123.58 pounds - or 5.15 pounds per person, the British media reported, lauding the British army chief for how frugal he is.

Ruling Labour MPs had apparently planned to discredit Dannatt after he criticised the government for failing to provide proper kit for troops in British Afghanistan, by portraying him as a champagne-guzzling member of the military elite.

But Mukherjee sprang to the Dannatt's defence Tuesday, saying the party last August was 'elegant and very, very enjoyable'.

'It was a wonderful party - exactly as expected from the chief of a professional army,' he told IANS.