food festival – Page 2 – Delhi Food Walks

Posted on July 25, 2014 September 20, 2014

Global Cuisine Indian Style Food Festival @ Barbeque Nation

July 25, 2014

Global Cuisine Indian Style Food Festival @ Barbeque Nation

By Bhuvaneshwari Sivakumar

When: 1^st August – 17^th August 2014

(Lunch and Dinner hours)

Venue: Barbeque Nation’s 9 outlets in Delhi-NCR Region (Connaught Place, Jangpura, Saket, VasantKunj, Pitampura, Janakpuri, Vivek Vihar, Noida and Gurgaon)

Barbeque Nation, India’s largest casual dining brand, is here with yet another one of its unique and interesting food festivals. As soon as it wraps up with its Iftar Special on 30^th July, the casual dining restaurant would be all set to host the ‘Global Cuisine Indian Style’ food festival, beginning on 1^st August.

The festival is BBQ’s first attempt at fusion food, and the concept has been formulated keeping in mind the growing presence of Indians in the international scene. For all Delhiites whose cuisines are very much rooted in Indian traditions, this event is an entry-point into the food culture of other countries whose tastes and palates may or may not match their own. Mindful of this factor, the chefs have tried to create the perfect balance, taking special care notto impose unfamiliar flavors but give their guests a hint of what international cuisine tastes like.

The festival menu is a fusion of Continental, Thai, Mexican, and Indian cuisines. The signature dishes include Bruschetta, Dahike Kebab, Prawns in Indian Sauce, Cheese Chilli Mushroom, Tomato Gazpacho, Roasted Lamb in Thai curry and Moong Dal Halwa.

In vegetarian starters, the Dahike Kebab are absolutely delightful. You should try them for the wonderful melt-in-mouth moments. Make sure that you pair them with the traditional green chutney and salad.

Another vegetarian appetizer that you should definitely treat yourself to is the Cheese Chilli Mushroom. The stuffing is an assortment of Jalapenos, Cheese, Button Mushrooms, Coriander, Jeera, Garlic and other herbs.

In non-vegetarian starters, the Prawns in Indian Sauce are a must-have. Succulent prawns and well-balanced flavours are what characterize this dish. The prawns are complete in themselves, suppressing the need to pair them with the Indian sauce, or any sauce for that matter.

For the main course, Roasted Lamb in Thai Curry and Mushroom ‘n Pasta in Indian Arrabbiata Sauce aregood choices. While the Lamb in Thai Curry is light but high on flavor, the Pasta is hot and fiery, and could be a little too spicy for the Indian palate. If you are daring enough, go for it!

The festival’s boldest dish would be the Masala Spicy Brownie. On first glance, one might be stuck on the pairing of the two words ‘masala’ and ‘brownie’, which do not seem to go together no matter how hard you imagine. The dessert is an infusion of the Indian masalas, namely cinnamon, cardamom, clove and a few others, into the much-acclaimed Chocolate brownie of the United States. You might love it, or you might hate it. But do try it!

We have presented to you only a few of the 22 amazing dishes that are a part of this attractive festival. Excellent service, pleasing ambience and delectable food await you at all corners of Delhi this month. Do not miss out on this opportunity to enjoy ‘Global Cuisine Indian Style’ and visit the nearest BBQ outlet soon!

Anubhav Sapra

Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on April 18, 2014 April 26, 2015

Kebab And Curry Festival @ Courtyard by Marriott

April 18th, 2014

Kebab And Curry Festival @ Courtyard by Marriott

By Anubhav Sapra

Event Details:
Date: 11th April to 20th April 2014
Time: 7pm – 11:30pm
Price: INR 1450 + taxes per person
Venue: MoMo Café, Courtyard by Marriott, Gurgaon
For reservations, call: +91 124 488 8444 / Ext 8245

Recently, I was invited by Courtyard by Marriott,Gurgaonto review their Kebab and Curry festival crafted by an imperial guest chef along with Executive Chef Ashis Rout. The evening started with an engrossing discussion with the Chef himself, whose expert understanding of the Hyderabadi, Awadhi and Kashmiri cuisines was astounding. He has spent substantial years in Kolkata, exploring its lanes for its food and spices.

RAJMA KI SHAMMI

My gastronomical journey started with Rajmake kebab which was followed by a slew of mouth-watering dishes like the Subz Sheekhampuri, Chapli Kebabs, tikka masala, Shikampuri kebab served with ulte tawe ka paratha, and Hyderabadi Mahi Rezaal.With Lucknowi spices running deep into the kebabs, the tandoor-cooked Murgh Nishapuri was among the evening’s favourites.

The green chutney that was served with the Kebabs added dollops of flavor to the already juicy and succulent Kebabs.The Chapli kebab, which is a traditional dish from the Pakistani cuisine, was exceptionally spicy and melt-in-mouth delicious. It had a nice lemony tinge to it. The only downside is that it is difficult to find good Chapli Kebabs in Delhi.

Among the curries served, I liked the Roganjosh – a perfect blend of spices and soft and succulent pieces of meat. The color of the curry was blood red, which comes from the Kashmiri dry red chillies used to prepare it. As told by the Chef Ashis, the signature spices for this dish are hing/asafoetida, fennel seeds and the dried ginger powder, along with a variation of a combination of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. Yogurt is added to givea slight tanginess and texture to the sauce. There are no tomatoes added to the traditional dish, not even to enhance color.

The biggest disappointment for me was the Chicken Nahari. Nahari is usually made of Beef or lamb meat cooked overnight with spices at low flame, after which the meat becomes so soft that it simply melts in the mouth. Unfortunately, the chicken nahari served at the festival had big pieces which were not soft enough to melt and hence took the essence of the dish away.

For desserts, I had Kulfi and Makhane ki Kheer. The kheer was simply delicious and the crispy crunchiness of the Makhana felt great in the mouth.

The Kebab & Curry Festival is on till April 20, from 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm. Don’t miss it!

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on December 31, 2013 April 26, 2015

Dilli ke Pakwan Festival

By Prerna Sinha

This street food festival organized by the Delhi Tourism from 23 – 29 Dec’13 was an experience, back to back stalls for kilometers, and free entry, what else does a foodie need?

The fest, organized at Baba Khadak Singh marg appeared so colourful and happy, visited by thousands of people from all walks of life- children, students, professionals and elders, everyone turned up to satiate their taste buds. Stalls serving street food had decked up the whole area- Rajasthani, Punjabi, Bihari, Mughlai, South Indian, you name it and you could savor on it.

Sweet, Spicy or sour every delicacy was yummy, carrying the traditional touch from its area of origin, be it Changezi Chicken, Daulati Chaat or Moong dal kepakore. Menu from different stalls covered wide range of food from the states. Stalls from Rajasthan tempted people into trying Daal bhaati choorma, moong dal ke pakode, pyaazkikachori, kesariyajalebi. The stalls serving fish and Changezi chicken were some of the most popular ones since the non vegetarian food stalls were lesser in number than vegetarian food.
Typical street food from Delhi included scrumptious chhole bhature, mashhooor cheele, tikki chaat, soya chaap and bread pakore. The variety of food presented from different parts of the country was incredible.

A very successful fest, gave Delhiites the reason to come out of home and taste the traditional food from across the country at one place. People also looked at this as an opportunity to spend time with family, friends, away from the monotony of life and thoroughly enjoyed it, with bright sun!

We look forward to more fests of the kind in future.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on December 31, 2013 April 26, 2015

Street Food Festival

Street Food Festival-2013

A joke that has been doing the rounds recently is that, the 3rd National Street Food Festival organised by The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) in Delhi was a bigger hit than Dhoom 3! Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was declared HOUSEFUL.

The three day event which began on 20th December and lasted till the 22nd of December, witnessed a footfall of almost 18,000 people. The catchphrase of the gastronomic affair was ‘Swad hai, Romanch hai, Street Foods ki Baat hi kuch aur hai’.

Street food vendors from all across India had come to participate and flaunt their regional speciality. The event was organised by NASVI in order to promote, professionalise and brand street foods. It was also aimed at influencing the policy makers in order to transform the usually ignored genre into a secure zone.

The entry fee was merely Rs.30 and totally, worth it all. Stalls from Chandigarh, U.P., Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Assam and host state Delhi were seen. The fest had something for everybody. The ones having a sweet tooth indulged themselves in desserts like jalebi- rabri and kulfi, while the hard core vegetarians found sarsoon ka saag with makke ki roti to their delight. There were ample options even for the non-vegetarians; there were seekh kababs, chicken tikka, mutton and chicken korma, biryani, fish tikka and so much more. The list can go on.

The first stall that caught my eye was of Bihar. Their speciality ‘littli chokha’ was a popular demand. Litti, a small naan- like thing is made with flour and a ‘sattu’ stuffing and is served with potato curry or a non-veg curry.

Chicken tikka rolls from the Mughlai Cuisine stall were next on my plate. Amazingly soft and perfectly barbecued tikkas tasted heavenly with the green chutney and lemon. The roll was worth Rs. 80/-

The Tamil Nadu stall had Tamarind Rice, Pyaaz pakodas and puddu to offer. I tried the puddus which were cute rice balls. Made of rice, peas, chopped onions and green coriander, they were served with green chutney and sadly, were not so tasty as they looked.

The famous Mysore Pak from Mysore was also a hit with the people.

I then jumped to the Punjab Stall which offered amazing chicken and sarsoon ka saag. It was served traditionally with makke ki roti.

The aloo bada at the Chandigarh Stall was also popular among the visitors. It was a different kind of bread roll, one can say, without the bread of course. The stuffing was similar, that of mashed potatoes and tasted similar too.

The jalebi rabri was the best one I have ever had. The jalebis were crispy, aptly sweetened and tasted very delicious with the creamy rabri.

The Lucknow stall also had interesting dishes on its menu. It had Mughlai Biryani and Boti Kabab for all. The Biryani was amazing. The rice was soft, pleasant and nicely coloured.
Street food is a carrier of culture and heritage and festivals like these help us revive this truth.

My experience at the fest was wonderful. There was so much to explore, so many foodies to meet, so much love to share!

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com