HYDERABAD: In less than 10 days Durga Puja begins bringing with it the nostalgia of the state, its food the warm smell of fish chops, kasundi sauce and fresh cottage cheese sweets. With quite a large Bengali population in the city, it’s not unusual to come across restaurants/hotels offering the sumptuous delights from the place. Mercure Hyderabad has on its buffet menu food from Bengal prepared by Chef Dipak Adhikary.
The starters containing Machher Chop, New Market Mangsho Chop and Vegetable Chop released a perfect taste with the crispiness and the right balance of spices that didn’t overpower the fillings. It came with an array of chutneys. It was surprising not to see kasundi, the sharper Bengali variety of mustard sauce, on the table. When asked chef Dipak Adhikary smiles and says, “Because of its strong pungent taste it requires acquisition to the flavour and guests ask for something their tastebuds are more familiar with.” We tried the main course comprising a vast spread. I picked Murgi Biryani, Shyam Bazaar Kosha Murgi, Lamb Stew, and Papda Fish. Despite that the biryani was a bit dry, the flavours unfurled as I took a spoonful of the rice cooked with the meat.
Trying it with spicy chicken curry was a bit of an experiment, but I relished the mix. From the veg section, I liked Potol Dolma, peeled wax gourds cooked in a mildly-spiced gravy of yogurt with a dash of sugar. It tasted home-made with a morsel of plain steamed rice. And quite surprisingly the chef has also included red spinach or laal saag, a popular vegetable in Bengali households. He’s sourcing it directly from Calcutta.
I decided to cap the dinner with the dessert platter and was happy to find, raj bhog, langcha, kalakand and mishti doi. The yellow roshogulla wasn’t as spongy as it usually is. The reason was that the hotel allows only standardised milk packets for the sweets to be prepared. That explains the texture of the delight. I dug into other sweets to shift the attention from the less sponginess and washed it all down with a glass of watermelon juice.
The food festival is on till September 22 for dinner
Charges: `1,250++
— Saima Afreen
saima@newindianexpress
@Sfreen