When Mr. Ashish Chopra, Culinary Historian, asked me what my fondest memories of food were I remembered all the times when I was traveling with my folks when I was a kid and the strange experiences that I had which I remember cause they were not very pleasant. But I think my fondest memories come from my school days. We had this tiny canteen aka store that would sell things like chowmein, fried rice, moghlai parantha with aloo or lucchi and channa dal (only one of this dish per day) with the omnipresent veg chop. All the girls from the senior and junior block would crowd around and literally fight tooth and nail to buy food worth 10 bucks! But I haven’t had food that tastes like that even remotely. Not that it was anything exceptional but I guess the memories make it special…or was it the “survival of the fittest’ appeal of it 😛 Isn’t it strange how many memories/emotions food can evoke?

 

 

 

     We were invited to sample the Awadhi Food Festival being held at K19 restaurant, Park Plaza Hotel, Kolkata. The dishes are available a la carte during lunch and as buffet during dinner. The man behind the menu is Dr. Izzat Husain who is a practitioner of Unanni Medicine. He has refined the recipes of his ancestors and made them suitable for the current lifestyle. He does not use water or curd in any of his preparations not even for marination but rather uses milk as a substitute. We started our meal with Paneer Talatili and Veg Izzati Kebab. I loved the paneer…it had a crispiness to it and the flavors were evenly distributed aka there was no blandness in the paneer pieces at all and I could make out the flavor of the marination throughout its thickness (I hope that makes sense). The other kebab was Rajma based and was ok. For me the paneer won this round (well I’m terribly biased to it anyways ) 🙂

 

 

 

     The main course comprised of – Kaju Paneer Biryani, Achari Arbi, Paneer Quorma, Aloo Hara Dhaniya, Dum Gobi, Dal Shahi Masoor, Tadka Dal, Boorani Raita and Izzat ki Roti. When I saw the veg biryani…veg paneer biryani…oh sweet lord! That was like IT for me!!! My meal was done there and then…anything else was just an ace up my sleeve 🙂 I went and took a portion of the biryani…sat down…and relished every spoon like a prayer. I kid you not…it was that good for me. After making my peace with it did I move on to sample the other items. My next favorite was the Aloo ki sabzi…it was spicy and oh so nice. The Paneer Quorma has vada pieces in it and the dish was very unique…another one of my favorites. Izzat ki Roti dipped in Tadka Dal was a delight to indulge in. 

 

 

 

 

     After a meal like that I needed a few moments to catch my breath. Hey the desserts were calling and I wanted to enjoy them to the fullest. We got to try Orange Halwa and Pakeeza Phirnee. I have never heard of Orange Halwa…have you? This was so good…really cant describe it in words. The thing that struck me the most was that the base was sooji…ok I absolutely loathe sooji halwa and don’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. But this was amazing cause I couldn’t taste the sooji at all! There was a tangy-ness to it which helped to cleanse the palate but it was no where near being sour. Must try irrespective of the fact whether you are a citrus lover or not. The Phirnee paled in comparison for me…though it was quite nice on its own. 

 

 

 

     Ah that was quite a meal! It does not get better than an evening spent with amazing food, friends and interesting stories. This is definitely something that you should not miss! For the non veg lovers read about Poorna’s (Presented by P) or Dolon’s (Pout Pretty) experience. I will go back just for the Biryani alone 😀 Well that’s it from me. I will catch you soon!