Rajasthani Food Festival at Hornby’s Pavilion, ITC Grand Central

Last year during my visit to Rajasthan on the occasion of a friend’s wedding, I had an elaborate interaction with Rajasthani Cuisine. I respect the cuisine for its design under constraints, something which is evident by limited usage of fresh produce (rarely available in earlier times); its ghee-laden richness which resonates with its royal heritage and tradition; and Rajasthani people’s ability to eat hard and work harder to digest a rich cuisine.

So when last week I got an invite for a Rajasthani Food Festival at Hornby’s Pavilion, ITC Grand Central, I just couldn’t say no, I had to go.

Before I start and get lost in the food, I would like to mention the presence of Chef Kailash Chand Meena who is the in-house expert on Rajasthani Cuisine for the ITC Group of Hotels and was the brain behind the event. He gathered his expertise serving in the kitchens of Jaipur and Udaipur royalty and is someone who loves narrating his experiences. I had a great discussion with him on the innovative use of ingredients in Rajasthani meals, the royal traditions of designing elaborate menus, and the flavors of laal maans vis-à-vis safed maans. After all this he promised to make chakke ki sabzi and gulabjaamun ki sabzi for me on my next visit. You can catch up with him at ITC Soner Bangla (Kolkata), or at such Rajasthani themed events ITC organizes.

There were two starters on the Rajasthani menu, the simple chicken one and the Tilwaale Paneer. Tilwaale (Sesame) Paneer is something I first tasted a couple of years back in a Jain wedding and taste has stuck since then. Paneer is coated with Besan and sesame and then sort of stir-fired to make it crispy. One of my favorite dish. The chicken dish was normal.

Paneer Tilwaale

Daal-Baati Churma is a core constituent of any Rajasthani meal and people tend to be very particular about it. I have had the rough of ones of roadside dhabas in Gujarat and the really rich royal ones served in weddings.  I asked Chef Kailash to make it for me the way he likes it, so he crushed the Baatis, added the Daal (which even independently was quite tasty), a dash of Ghee and sprinkled some Jaggery over it. I have never had Daal Baati with Jaggery on top and I liked the sweet flavor which went well with the Ghee-moistened baati.

Rajasthani cuisine generally doesn’t disappoint the vegetarians, and as expected there were the traditional Badi, Besan domianted sabzis. I lovedPithori ki Sabzi (Besan batter, steamed and cut in cubes with Tomato Gravy) and Mangodi ki Subzi (Moong Daal  Badis in Gravy). One unique dish which I tried out was the Moongfalli ki Subzi (Raw Peanuts in a rich creamy gravy). I love peanuts in all forms and this is something I will surely try cooking at home too.

Mangodi ki Sabzi

Pithori ki Sabzi

In the non-vegetarian fare there were a couple of dishes, Chicken Kadhiwaala and Laal Maans. Chicken Kadhi was ok, and not that exciting for me. Laal Maans was spicy (as it is supposed to be) and the mutton was perfectly cooked. Although I could have taken another step on the Scoville Scale, guess this was good for patrons flocking ITC currently. Loved Laal Maans.

Chicken Kadhiwaala

Laal Maans

Accompaniments included the chapatis, the bajra bhakris, and sev-pulaav. Although another interesting dish were the green-tinged Papads. The saltiness (and the green tinge) in the Papad was a result of using the foam of Sambhar Lake as a key ingredient. These Chefs do go the distance when it goes to sourcing stuff.

Special “Sambhar Lake” Papads

Sev Pulaav

The dessert included the Ghevar (which I am not a big fan of and so won’t comment anything on it) and the Lapsi Halwa which has been a childhood favorite for me. Simple and nice.

Lapsi Halwa

All in all a good, controlled experience. Sometimes the Thali Restaurants tend to get on my nerve and overwhelm with so much food, having it in such a setting was a neat experience. Looking forward to meeting Chef Kailash again sometime soon.

Disclosure: ITC’s Public Relations team covered all the expenses associated with the food tastings mentioned above. For more details refer my disclosure page.