Meal Ticket

Healthy bites
The food aficionados of the city will get to taste novelty foods like naturopathic burger,vegetable idli,uncooked kheer (porridge) and haemoglobin laddoo at a food festival being organised by the National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN) at its Tadiwala Road premises. This food festival,being held from Sep 24 to 29,aims to promote the merits of natural,healthy food among Puneites. The food is cooked without oil and spices here and is still delicious,along with being extremely healthy. The festival is in its second year and the institute has added 60 new Maharashtrian dishes to last year’s count of 150 dishes.

Choco delights
The Chocolate Story,a store that introduced the concept of chocolate bouquet in Pune,is starting a second inning with its new store in Ozone Mall,Aundh. The store will have a variety of chocolates like Dutch Truffle,Rum and Raisin,Dark chocolate,White Chocolate – all in the form of bouquets. Nikita Malhotra,the 19-year-old owner of Chocolate Story,is also planning to introduce some festival specials like Diwali Crackers and Blue and Pink bouquets for newborn babies. The first chocolate factory,situated in Kalyani Nagar,is a hit,especially among children and Malhotra says she hopes to replicate the same popularity at the Aundh outlet as well.

As good as it gets
DJ Asad will be playing minimal tech and other forms of house music at the Stone Water Grill tomorrow between 5 and 10 pm. Asad Zaidi a.k.a. DJ Asad is a music producer,composer and engineer and has a diverse repertoire. He has been in the entertainment and sound business since the mid-80s and has been a pioneer in the dance music scene in India. This Sunday,all music buffs in the city can catch DJ Asad flaming up the dance floor at the Stone Water Grill.

Festive cuisine
It’s feast time for foodies in the city even as the Navratri festival heads to a close. As lots of Durga Puja pandals across the city,especially the one at Congress Bhavan,are offering authentic,tasty Bengali food,people are thronging to these pandals to savour delicacies like maccher chops,kosha mangsho,chingri malai and puchka. People are making a beeline for stalls serving Bengali food,as this is the only time when they can find a variety of food at one place. People do not cook anything at home for the last five days of Durga Puja celebrations and prefer to eat at the pandals with family and friends. So if you feel like tasting a typical Bengali dish,do check out the Durga Puja pandal at Congress Bhavan.