HYDERABAD: Durga Puja with all its festive fervour has come to an end leaving that longing for the aromatic bhog, the fluffy hot luchis, shukto, steamed rice, and other delectable dishes that culminate into memories only to be dispelled by puja the next year. But the flavour of Bengal still lingers in some star hotels of the city. ITC Kakatiya Hyderabad is hosting ‘Feast with the East’ a Bengali food festival which offers a taste which is as good as home-cooked.
Curated by chef Shiben Ghosh and junior sous chef Shreya Velidanda the delights make you feel nostalgic. I relished the crisp luchi and aloor dum with tomato chutney and plastic, the papaya and raw mango chutney. What I relished the most was steamed rice with moong daal, crisp aloo bhaja (potato fries), and murgir jhol (chicken curry) which reminded me of home.
Paturi Maachh, bhetki fish steamed-cooked in a banana leaf, satisfied the half-Bong in me. The taste of the dishes had a unique freshness. Talking about this, chef Shreya said, “ITC Hotels is a benchmark in Food Safety and Hygiene Standards with sophisticated in-house state of the art laboratory. Individual Unit WelcomLab Resources do a quarterly food safety audits. And we maintain fruit and vegetable washing with Ozone and Chlorine sanitizing process.” What more could I ask for, as I rounded the spread with mishti doi and sondesh, though I really felt that the fish chop, in the starters menu, had a bit too much of potato fill. But this festival is worth the try.
On till October 28
Buffet at Deccan Pavilion only for dinner
Price: Rs 1,800 inclusive of all taxes