There's absolutely nothing like a festival to bring loads of fun and food into our lives. It's the season of Holi; Holiday Inn OMR is celebrating the festival of colours with an array of regional cuisines at Café G. The food festival,
Flavours of India, features cuisines from Rajasthan, Kerala, Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Gujarat, on a rotational basis.
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| Thandai |
Chilled
thandai, served in a little mud pot, set the tone for the evening. The flavours of saffron and cardamom shone through in the lightly sweetened milk. Thickened with ground almonds, it was so refreshing.
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| Paneer Shahjahani kebab |
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Kalan milagu pirattal - mushrooms cooked in a peppery paste, a local favourite
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| Kerala potato cutlet |
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| Gilafi ke seekh - minced lamb kebab flavoured with a robust spice mix |
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| Chapli kebab |
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| Murgh gol mirchi laziz kebab - tender meat with slightly milder flavours |
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| Mint chutney and curd dip |
An impressive list of starters were served at the table; paneer Shahjahani kebab, with a prune and cheese filling between slabs of cottage cheese, was particularly nice. Don't let the name "Kerala potato cutlet" fool you for a minute. It's stuffed with minced meat too and it's delish. The non veg kebabs too had plenty of personality. What stole the show was the dip made with hung curd and mustard oil.
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| An array of chaats |
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| Making the appam |
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| Appam & paya |
At the live stations, the chaat counter has an interesting menu. The pani puri stall had 4 kinds of
paani, you can opt for a combination of them to go with the puri. The next stop was the appam chef and we watched him twirl his pan expertly, spreading the batter almost to the very edges. With it, I had
paya (trotter) curry. Long, slow cooking had resulted in extremely tender meat though the gravy was faintly bitter.
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| Goan style omelette and gravy |
Well, there was even bun omelette, a Goan speciality. It was fascinating to watch the chef make an omelette and wrap it around a bun. A delicious gravy was ladled over, it was so good that a friend had 3 helpings!
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| Rara gosht; kozhi pacha korma |
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| Whole wheat laccha paratha |
The buffet spread of main courses encompasses everything from pasta to noodles to biryani, justifying the tag "multi-cuisine". The gravies can be had either with rice or Indian breads which are brought piping hot to the table.
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| Mango rasmalai |
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| Ada pradamam; Kerala halwa |
There's plenty of desserts to choose from but we tried the ones that are the made exclusively for the festival. Can you turn down spongy mango
rasmalai, Kerala halwa or even that comforting pot of
ada pradamam? I think not 😊
Flavours of India at Café G is on till March 24th. The dinner only buffet is priced at 1399/++ per head.
Café G is at Holiday Inn Chennai OMR IT Expressway
#110, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, SRP Tools Junction, Thiruvanmiyur.
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| The private theatre at Score, Sports Bar & Grill, Holiday Inn |
