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| Meen Huli (Fish cooked with tamarind & tomatoes) |
Well, it is not every day that we get to indulge in royalty
right?
India was a land of many kingdoms at one point and one of
the most powerful and flourishing of them was Vijayanagara, the cuisine of
which we’ll be talking about in this post.
This post is all about the Cuisines of Vijayanagara food
festival at the Cubbon Pavilion, ITC Gardenia which is on till the 4th
of June.
This comes under the Royal Repasts aegis of Kitchens of India by
ITC.
The food was exquisite, rich & spicy but was like
comfort food at the same time. This region was known to use a lot of spice,
especially chilli in their food & care was also taken so that it does not
overpower the natural flavours and that is what we experienced.
This cuisine is also considered as Hampi cuisine which is also
long gone, but the master chefs from ITC took it to task to recreate this in as
authentic a way as possible keeping modern dining in mind.
Now, moving on to what this festival has to offer:
More or less equal options for vegetarians & non
vegetarians. We won’t be stressing too much on the details and we’ll mention
the must tries. There was nothing disappointing about the food we were served,
but some were exceptional whereas some were decent.
From the starters: All the 3 are highly recommended! From
the raw banana dumplings to the spicy dry chicken preparation and the lamb
& coriander dumplings, simplistic brilliance we would like to call it.
The raw banana was shallow fried and it had a homely touch
to it. The chicken was very spicy, well-cooked and not overpowering. The lamb
balls were amazing. They are pretty small in size but big on impact! The
freshness of the coriander & the flavour of lamb are an impeccable
combination.
From the mains: The Ivy Gourd preparation, The Lamb Chops,
Prawns with Black Pepper are a must! The accompaniments were equally amazing.
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| Balakkai Vada (Raw Banana) |
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| Kaima Unde Bartad (Lamb & Coriander dumplings) |
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| Koli Menasakai (Spicy Chicken) |
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| Urida Mamsa (Lamb chops) |
The Ivy Gourd had a rich coconut flavour and was cut into
very thin slices which gave a delicate crunch to each bite. The Lamb chops were
heavenly. The best part about them was that the flavour of lamb was present
because they were not smoked. The masala used really boosted the taste &
that’s the drawing line for a non-vegetarian!
The Prawn preparation was very simple. The prawns were fresh
& sweet and the black pepper gave the contrast in flavour.
The other preparations include: Chicken in Coriander &
Coconut gravy, a lentil preparation, a Brinjal preparation & a Sear fish
preparation cooked in tomatoes & tamarind.
All of them were palatable. The fish had a unique tangy
taste. The Brinjal preparation had a few shortcomings in terms of balance. The
chicken had the characteristic flavours.
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| Ennai Badakanai (Brinjal) |
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| Centre: Raw Mango rice. From left: Ivy Gourd, Brinjal, Chicken, Lentils, Fish, Koli Pulao |
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| Akki Payasa |
The accompaniments like Raw Mango Rice, The Koli Pulao
(Chicken cooked with rice & spices) & the Akki Roti deserve a special
mention. The first had an amazing aroma & was lip smacking. The Koli Pulao
was mouth-watering! It was very light on the stomach, lightly spiced & the
meat retained the flavours.
For dessert, we tried the Akki Payasa which was very
comforting. It was dilute but gave a sweet finish as always. We felt it was a
tad bit over sweet.
That’s all from our side!
The festival is on till for another week so quite some time
left to gear up.
Such opportunities are hard to come by and we definitely
recommend a visit.
Do try out what we mentioned and other things as well and
let us know about your experience if you visit. This is available only for dinner (07:30 PM - 11:30 PM) and priced at 1950 ++.
This festival might not have much for dessert, but the other
things are sure to satisfy you.
We’ll be back soon
with a bang ;)
Till then—stay tuned & bon apetit!
- 18:23
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