Food review: Awadhi Food Festival at Dilli 32, Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi

Non vegetarian starters at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival
Non vegetarian starters at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival

Its not on a daily basis you get to dine with royalty. The Rajkumari Alka Rani Singh of Pratapgarh has designed a special menu with the chefs at Kempinski Ambience Hotel at Dilli 32. The food festival is up till this month end.

Chef Ashwani Kumar Singh along with Awadhi food connoisseur Rajkumari Alka Rani Singh of Pratapgarh, has recreated the magic of the indulgent Awadhi cuisine.

Rajkumari Alka Rani Singh on the other hand, was born and brought up in the royal fort of Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. She loves to recreate the traditional and authentic

Vegetarian delights at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival
Vegetarian delights at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival

Awadhi dishes and experiments with them from time to time Rajkumari Alka Rani Singh said “Awadhi cuisine is one the most loved genre of Indian Food, with combination of ingredients and slow cooking methods that became synonymous with royal kitchens at Lucknow in the past. It is an absolute delight for me to be a part of the Awadh food festival at Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi and introducing best of the Awadhi cuisine.”

Price: The special menu will be available at Dilli 32 at INR 1732 plus taxes per person (1900 hrs – 2345 hrs) from 21st August – 30th August, 2015. *A la Carte also available

Must

Non vegetarian delights at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival
Non vegetarian delights at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival

haves: The food is a non vegetarians delight. The starters are great with succulent mutton chops, Tawa Champ, cooked in aromatic spices to amazing melt in your mouth Shammi kebabs. You cannot stop eating. For the vegetarian lovers the doodhi kebabs are an unusual treat. They are thin slices of paneer sandwiched with spicy potatoes and fried in ghee. I had the most unusual form of jackfruit and the tastiest too. The Kathal Kastoori Tikka was soft, juicy jackfruit tikka coated with beautiful spices. The food has a subtle aroma of carefully blended itar and richness of the ghee. However it’s not dripping in oil or heavy. The jhinga saufia was a huge hit on the table and it was a slightly sweet form of prawn with fennel.

The main course comes with options galore for the non vegetarians. For me the Bater Hara Salan which is whole quail cooked to tender perfection in a green gravy of coriander and mint stood out. It was delicately handled and the after taste of mint made it unusual. The well known Murg Musallam was stuffed with khoya, nuts, eggs and mint. The textures were amazing and mint added the much needed freshness to the stuffing.

Kempinsi Dilli 32 is known for it’s beautiful subtle Nehari and it lived up to its aromatic blend and yummy taste.

For

Desserts at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival
Desserts at Dilli 32 awadhi food festival

the vegetarians the Shakahari Kheechra is a smooth almost paste-y looking kheechri but what makes it unusual is that its not your regular rice dal combination. It’s made of pearl barley, wheat and dal which makes it rich in taste and the tastiest kheechri you will ever taste.

The biryani is a must of we talk of royalty food styles on India. The Chilman biryani is delight on the tastebuds. The mutton has its gaminess and saffron, kewra infused rice add a slight sweetness to the dish. Its a must try.

The breads deserve a special mention. The Warqi Parantha, sheermal, ulte tawe ka Parantha and the khameeri naan take the food to the next level.

The desserts are an unusual surprise. When I was served the kheer it was creamy and tasted much like rabri but the kheer is made from kaccha aam or raw mango. The kachhe aam ki kheer has only a subtle sourness of the mango towards the end.

The kismis aur gond ke ladoo have the richness of raisins and dry coconut but the aftertaste of paan flavour makes it a refreshing end to the meal. It’s served with hot milk because hot milk helps in digesting gond.

Rating: 5/5 the menu is elaborate and set according to royals. Go get some royalty food and treatment.