What do travellers discuss? probable next trip destinations

Which destination were a couple of travellers discussing not more than two weeks ago? Lucknow

Reason? yummilicious awadhi food

What happened exactly a week ago? tasting the flavors of Awadh at The Verandah

Master Chef Shamshad Ahmad, from Vivanta by Taj – Lucknow is here in Chennai, teaming along with Chef Jaffer, has created a food festival at The Verandah. I got an invite to the preview and I had to immediately say “yes”

Awadhi cuisine is a must try for any foodie who loves Indian flavours. I decided to get drenched in those unique flavours.

With a setup of dinner buffet, the soups and starters are served at the table. Murgh ka shorba (chicken soup) was pretty flavourful, while I was looking forward to the delicious kebabs. We had an array of kebabs and tikkas coming in, both veg and non-veg. While the names shammi kebab, mahi tikka, gilafi kebab etc sounded so familiar, the one which caught our attention was the Khoya Khubani ke kebab , which is nothing but kebab made of apricot infused khoya. I’m an avid meat-eater, and lemme confess, I was bowled over by the taste of this kebab and had to ask for repeat serving not just once, but thrice. Next up worth mentioning is the succulent mahi tikka and the gilafi kebab. Veg wins over non-veg. 😀

Moving on to the main course. There are live-counters at the back where rotis are made. The very unique tasting (cannot be described, please try it out at the very first chance) Shirmal and the usual romali roti will be your goto items for those amazing sides showcased. The one which grabs attention is the very-very-very tender Nihari gosht. Just move the fork along the bones, and the meat just falls off and the mutton is yummy. Another peculiar dish that caught my attention is Shahi Urad dal. This is a very different dal preparation. All that was running through my mind was “wow, so much protein”

Special mentions to the lucknowi chicken biryani and dum kofta biryani. Veg and non-veg battle?? it is a draw…

Can a dessert lover quit sugar?? never,.. and the spreads like these make my life choices bit more tough.

Shahi tukra is a well known dish around the north-indian food places, Sheer Korma, is a kheer made from vermicelli, raisins and dates, almost similar to our vermicelli payasam.

Beauty of the evening? Zarda Ananas – sweet rice, flavoured with saffron and pineapple. Even though the description made me to expect a ‘sakkara-pongal’, I have to say, this is totally different.

Final outcome? I’m packing my backpack to enjoy these yumminess in a few month’s time at its origin.

Awadhi Food Festival is a Dinner buffet priced at 1500+taxes

at The Verandah, Vivanta by Taj-Connemara

till 26th Oct’15