HYDERABAD: Gracefully dancing to the beats of the Punjabi dhol and creating memories with an ambience that looks no different than a Punjabi Dhaba — this is exactly what you get to experience at the Punjabi Food Festival at Novotel Hyderabad. The ongoing festival which ends on Saturday has been entertaining its guests with loads of Punjabi food and music that is tough to find anywhere else in the city. To give you a glimpse of what they have in store for you, the mood and laughter here are so infectious that even adults joined the kids in dancing to the live dhol! The dholwaale and the dancers walked around every table at the restaurant and entertained guests who enjoyed every bit of the music and the vibe.
A Punjabi gathering is incomplete without great food. Of the various dishes on the menu, some interesting ones that caught our eyes include the obvious makki ki roti and sarson ka sag which is one of the most-loved and known dishes from the state adored for its hospitality. A quick tip for those looking to try the many dishes here is to everything in small portions that would ensure you get to try and relish all the varities on the special menu.
For starters, the chicken kebabs, chicken tikka, and fish tikka are some of the must-try dishes there. Who could miss the all-time Punjabi favourite drink — the lassi! This comes in two flavours — saada and mango that are both refreshing. Since Punjab is famous for its many kinds of bread, the menu has the best of it like the kulcha, Amritsari parantha and the plain roti too, and do not miss their popular chole bhature. You can order these bread with some butter chicken and a few of the other vegetable curries which all complement the rotis. Their gul mai jamun, which is the opposite of gulab jamun was a hit. The phirni and jalebi with rabdi melt so subtly in your mouth.
Chef Jugesh Arora, the curator of the menu says, “We tried to keep the dishes as traditional as possible. There are two parts of Punjab one is in India and the other is separated from Punjab in Pakistan. We tried to keep all the flavours from the Indian Punjab region to be as authentic as possible. We experimented with the Punjabi street food which comes under the starters and then came up with all kinds of roti that one would want to try when in Punjab. The dhol, Dhaba-style seating — everything is placed for you to feel Punjab in Hyderabad.”