The Rice Fest

The mood here is definitely Awadh,with little earthen pots hanging from the roof acting as an interesting centrepiece. As we made our way in,the staff was busy giving finishing touches to the floating diyas and rangoli. The group general manager Rajeev Kakar,stated,“In the past,we have got an encouraging response to the Hyderabadi food festival,which we have organised a couple of times. The biryanis,in particular,were always in demand,even after the festivals got over.”

To make it a special,the hotel’s Biryani Food Festival has over a dozen varieties of biryani,including fusion concoctions like a triple schezwan biryani. This one packs in layers of noodles,rice,cheese chilli/chilli chicken,served in dum style. The Thai biryani,on the other hand,is quite like Thai pot rice and is essentially massaman curry paired with fine grain rice. The more authentic Indian options include Rajasthani gatte ki biryani (Rs 325),Lahore biryani (Rs 395) and malabari seafood biryani (Rs 425). Each is served in red (non-veg) or green (veg) coloured earthen handis,along with a portion of raita,mint chutney and plain gravy. A single handi would be good for two not-so-hungry diners. It’s a delight to watch the server slit the crust on the handi and then let the aromas waft through. The complimentary serving of masala chaach (spicy buttermilk) was not chilled,but refreshing. A hot bowl of shorba would have been better though.

The Lahore biryani,a Pakistani delicacy with boneless mutton pieces,was well made and not too spicy. The vegetarian Rajasthani gatte ki biryani was rich in flavours and the rice was fragrant.

The raitas are also impressive. We particularly liked the cucumber raita and the pineapple raita. Other biryanis on the menu include dum pukht subz,Punjabi champpan di biryani,reshmi seekh biryani,Kashmiri moti chaman biryani and gosht dum pukht.

The desserts too are rice-based. There’s kheer (Rs 115) and zarda biryani (Rs 155). The latter reminds us of the sweet rice rustled up using sugary syrup. If love biryanis,don’t miss this one.

The food festival is on till December 31.

Meal for two: Rs 1,000,Location: SCO 103-106,Sector 43-B,Chandigarh/ Site No. 2,Sector 10,Panchkula Contact: 0172-4554455 (Chandigarh); 0172-4334455 (Panchkula)