Food Festival Archives

South Indian Food Festival At K-19, Park Plaza, Kolkata From 26 Feb – 6 March, 2016

February 29, 2016

Chef Arokia Das and Chef Janarthanam from Chennai and Hyderabad have come to Park Plaza Kolkata to present an array of popular vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes from the states of Southern India. The festival starts from 26 Feb and will continue till 6th March.

I was invited by Park Plaza for a special preview of the festival and we started off our meal with a refreshing pineapple salad and a glass of Hallu Husru Panaga, a drink made of green moong dal, milk and jaggery. The pineapple salad with curry leaves said to be a signature dish of the GRT Grand was a great start to the meal. For starters, we had Masala Vadai, Pazha Dosai ( a fried banana dish) , Kari Sukka and Prawn Varuval. The prawns were spicy, soft and succulent and the dry mutton with chillies, curry leaves and garlic, a treat for the senses!

For the main course, we had the staple rice with rasam and sambhar along with Pumpkin Erussery ( a lovely pumpkin and coconut curry) , Mokkachonna Meriyali (baby corn), Fish Varuval (fish marinated in curry leaf and fried) and Kozhi Varutha Curry (Chicken in a tomato gravy). Chef insisted we try the famous Madurai Kari Dosa with the chicken curry and the combination was brilliant. I also tasted a rather lovely Kavari Karai Khuska or rice made with raw banana. We finished our meal with Aval Payasam and Ukkarai or moong daal and coconut mix.

The South Indian Food Festival at K-19, Park Plaza will be on till the 6th of March, 2016, and the items will be available during lunch and dinner (12 noon to 3 pm and 7 pm to 10.45 pm). Lunch will be served a-la-carte while the dinner buffet is priced at INR 1299/- + taxes per person and 799/- + taxes for children under 12.

Lucknawi Food Festival at Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences Till Jan 24th

January 22, 2016

Want a taste of the ‘dum’ style of cooking that is synonymous with Lucknow in our city? Head over to the Square at Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences, dig into delicious kebabs and delectable biryanis while mesmerizing Ghazals and enchanting Shayaris play sweet notes for your ears and soul!

Lucknawi Food Festival at Novotel Kolkata

I was invited by Novotel for an interaction with chef Abid Qureshi who has flown down from Lucknow specially for the festival and to enjoy his food. In the chef’s words “My menu is rooted in rich royal heritage of India and is a combination of subtle taste where flavors are as varied as India’s climate and as exotic as India’s royal culinary heritage“. Recreating the magic of the spices, Abid Qureshi has carefully handpicked spices and flavors often used in the kitchen of royal families.

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Flavors of Burma at The Orient, City Centre New Town – Cooking Workshop & Recipes by Chanda Dutt

August 23, 2015

I first had the Burmese delicacy, Khauk Suey (Burmese Chicken Soup) nearly six years back at Chanda Dutt’s Beniapukur residence. She had still not started her extremely popular one day food festival Authentic Taste of Myanmar and we were a group of around seven very hungry men and women waiting to be initiated into the delightful world of Burmese cuisine. The Khauk Suey that day was lip smacking. I’ve had the privilege of tasting Chanda di’s food many times after that and I can say only one thing, when it comes to Burmese cuisine in Kolkata, she is ‘the boss’.

When i got an invite from The Orient to attend a Burmese Cooking Workshop to be conducted by ‘the boss’ herself, my joy knew no bounds. Why? Because it’s been quite some time since I had that Khauk Suey and I was also hoping she would make her signature red and golden pork with fish sauce (she did not but I’m waiting for the winter edition of Authentic Taste of Myanmar to gorge on it). I was also excited because till date, I’ve only eaten her food but now I would actually get to see her in action and learn how to cook these dishes.

: Flavors of Burma Workshop

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Enjoy Authentic Cuisine From Marwar At Sonargaon, Taj Bengal Till 29 June 2015

June 20, 2015

Marwar Food Festival at Taj Bengal

“That dal you are having is Bapji’s favorite and it has been for years. Whenever any guest comes to the palace, He always asks me to make that dal” Thus spoke Chef Mod Singh Sisodia who has been serving Bapji a.k.a Maharaja Gaj Singh, the Maharaja of Jodhpur at the Umaid Bhawan Palace since 1984. If you want to taste food enjoyed by royalty in the state of Marwar, hop over to Sonargaon at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata where a special Marwar Food Festival is on till the 29th of June. I was invited by the Taj to sample the delectable cuisine and by God, was I floored!

Chef Sisodia & Chef Prajapat

The tasting started with Sangri Aur Makkai Ki Tikki, delicately spiced patties of the wild bean, sangri, with pounded gucchi mushrooms added for an extra dash of flavour. And then came the succulent Moorgh Soola kabab, chicken marinated with yoghurt, chilli, ginger and garlic, the Machhli Sardar Samand, pan fried betki marinated in in mint, yogurt and spices and the rich Mathania Paneer Tikka, marinated in yoghurt and chillis from the Mathania village. Along with Chef Sisodia who regaled us with stories from the kitchens of the royal household, we were also joined by the Taj Bengal Executive Chef, Sonu Koithara. He explained that in the region, the Marwari cuisine is strictly vegetarian but the Rajputs, being the warrior class enjoyed non-vegetarian fare and it included all kinds of poultry and game.

Murgh Soola

The starters had pretty much filled me up but I obviously could not say no to the mains. There were a lot of excellent dishes but the ones that stood out for me were the mild Aloo Dahiwala, mustard and curry leaf tempered potatoes cooked in yogurt, the tangy Kair Sangri Dakh, sangri cooked with dry mango, raisins and chilli and my favorite vegetarian dish in the menu, the interesting Kabuli Pulao cooked with nuts, vegetables and bread croutons and of course the very popular Lal Maas which was thankfully not as spicy and hot as I had assumed it would be. Lal Maas is ubiquitous to Rajasthani cuisine but a silent winner was the Jodhpuri Murgh, a mild white dish of chicken cooked in yogurt, cashew nut and onion. And of course, how could I not have the Marwari Dal Bati Churma, Bapji’s favorite dish.

Kair Sangri Dakh

: Lal Maas

And then came the desserts introduced to us by the Halwai Chef of Umaid Bhawan Palace, Mohan Ram Prajapat. There was the rich ghee laden Mawa Kachori, Chef Mohan’s special hot Jalebi served with chilled rabri and Malai Ghewar Laapsi, made from broken wheat and jaggery that was mildly sweet, light and delicious.

: Dessert Platter

That meal deserved a two hour siesta afterwards but sadly, I had to go to office and start work which was so so painful. You guys never make that mistake!

The Marwar Food Festival is on at Sonargaon, Taj Bengal till 29th June, 2015 and a meal for two comes for Rs 3,000 (veg) and Rs 4,000 (non-veg), inclusive of taxes. Don’t miss it!

P.S – I was invited by Taj Bengal to the tasting.

Pics Courtesy Taj Bengal and Poorna Banerjee