Working in Gurgaon has its own perks. For instance, I can visit the food festivals being organized at the magnificent Cyber Hub after a hard day’s work. And the dessert carnival surely provided a wonderful “opportunity” for me to binge on home made sweet delicacies from around the town.

Since I was already full with the heavy lunch I had, I decided to try only two stalls. I was lured by the prettiest desserts present at the Bubbly’s Delight and G’s Patisserie. So let me elaborate on these two further:

Bubbly’s Delight : Started by a retired school teacher by the name of Mrs. Bubbly and her daughter, this stall was worth every penny. Mrs. Bubbly is not using any sort of emulsifier, preservative or a stabilizer in her creations, so all the lovely brownies and cupcakes made by her are fresh, sometimes flourless, vegan and yummy to have. I tasted a chocolate cupcake with Swiss meringue butter. The cupcake had gone a bit hard but the Swiss meringue butter was drool worthy! Do try them out if you are putting up in South Delhi and Gurgaon.

Check them out :

https://www.facebook.com/bubblysdelights/

G’s Patisserie: Based in Kalkaji and established by Ms. Gauri, the products displayed at this stall were worth every penny. I was particularly impressed by the quality of the desserts served here. Ms. Gauri uses imported sugar and cream with no additional preservatives. I happened to try her tantalizing masterpiece – the Red Velvet Cake which is by far the best I have ever had in Delhi NCR. It was far better than Elma’s, which is considered the crème de la crème of the Red Velvet cakes in the national capital. The red velvet served here was exceptionally soft – the sponge was light and airy and the cream was moderately sweet and delicate to have. There were little snowman made from imported sugar which were again not very sweet. I was able to finish off this three layered goodness with no heaviness in my belly. Kudos to this pastry chef for making desserts which are light on your pockets as well as stomach too!

Ms. Gauri’s creations can also be savoured by the lactose intolerant guys who usually keep themselves away from dairy based dishes. And she really believes that a dessert should be made in such a way that it can be eaten without any guilt or leftover.

Check them out at:

https://www.facebook.com/gpatisserie/

https://www.instagram.com/gpatisseriedelhi/

The post Sugar, Yes Please! Dessert Carnival, Cyber Hub – 22Nd-24Th December, 2016 appeared first on Gluttony Guilts.

For a few years, Delhi NCR region has been witnessing many food festivals. This time, in 2015, the second edition of the Delhi Palate Festival was orgabised at PSOI, Chanakyapuri. Featuring many fancy restaurants, five star hotel chains and some recently launched food kiosks and bakeries, this festival was successful in attracting the food lovers of the Delhi NCR region.

I preferred to explore dishes here which I have never experienced before. The menu was a bit overpriced here which usually happens at all such festivals. I will list out the kiosks I visited here and the food served.

Market Café : I have visited their Khan market branch and was delighted to eat there. Keeping expectations, I decided to try their menu here. I ordered Chicken Satay skewers and they were served within five minutes. They were accompanied with a yoghurt dip. The chicken skewers were grilled chicken breasts pieces topped with a spicy red sauce and chopped spring onions. The name chilli sauce should be understated as it was nothing close to spicy. Moreover, the chicken pieces were not grilled well. The yoghurt dip was good though with the consistency of the dip being thick and creamy. It was sour and went well with skewers.

The Great Kebab Factory- I have never been to any of their outlets and was eager to try their kiosk here. Their kiosk was the most serene of all the kiosks at the festival. The white curtains were beautifully arranged with small décor pieces. Getting back to the food : I ordered the tangri chicken platter – three chicken tangri kebabs with a tandoori roti and dal makhani. The mint chutney served with the kebabs was one of the best I have had so far. The consistency was thick with the quantity of mint leaves being high lending it a tangy flavor. The green chillis added in it made it a bit spicy but bearable. The chicken pieces were grilled to perfection and were drenched in the spice mixture. The tandoori roti was chewy in texture and good to eat. The dal makhani was equally good.

Sartoria: I decided to order a take away from here for my family. The chicken lasagna and the vegetable pizza were attractive options so decided to order both. I was given a bag with the comments that this is my order but when I reached home, the bag had the lasagna and not the pizza. I got the number of the manager there from the Vasant Vihar branch of Sartoria. I talked to him and he decided to deliver the pizza to my address. By mistake, eight pizzas were sent instead of one and he stressed on giving them on the house to me. The pizzas had a thin crust and were a bit cold. The topping was not very delicious and the overall taste was bland. The lasagna was great with the rich creaminess of cheese making it more scrumptious. The red sauce and the vegetables – zuchhini, mushroom and the chicken were sautéed well and their individual flavours made the lasagna a heaven for Italian food lovers like me.

I also tried Salmon Sushi from a small kiosk whose name I don’t remember. The salmon slices were smooth in texture and the rice was crispy. My first experience with Sushi went well and I am eager to try more of them.

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I recently received a delish invite from a premium property at Vrindavan, which goes by the name of Kridha Residency. The dessert that I received was an authentic carrot halwa, neatly packed in a nice plastic container shaped like a lunchbox.

The aroma you get when you open this box is enchanting! The whiff of khoya alongwith green cardomam is mesmerizing. The halwa tasted good – fine jullienes of well boiled carrot with the richness of khoya complementing it. The additional sweetness of the chashni (sugary syrup) is overwhelming. However, it was a bit too sweet for me and sometimes, the khoya tasted a bit sour.

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Here are some of the sessions that we attended:

Life beyond Classics by Rajnish Kansal, National Head, Mc Cain: Mr. Rajnish elaborately talked about how new ways of serving the regular classics is working very well, like serving maggie with fries. There was an exhibit by the Mc Cain group where Mr. rajnish explained that Mc Cain specifically focuses on potato products and a lot of research has gone into creating the perfect potato. The researchers at Mc Cain have spent around 10-12 years in getting the perfect potato which has more solids as compared to the traditional one. They have their own farms and processing units and the chefs have created ready to eat dishes which are yummy to the core. Mc Cain also holds live culinary workshops innovation sessions.

E-commerce and restaurants – The New Guest Experience by Sahil Jain, founder of Dineout: Dineout was borne out of the idea of providing a seamless experience when customers look for outside eating options while taking care of convenience and savings. Dineout offers categories of eating joints – lounges, pubs, desserts etc. Through customer loyalty programs, technology solutions which help in getting customer preferences, automated campaigns which offer discounts on customer preferences etc Dineout believes in helping restaurants by more returning customers and higher revenues. Additionally, the restaurant menus updated at Dineout gets automatically updated at Zomato, Swiggy and FoodPanda.

Doubling revenue from marketing campaigns by the Xeno co-founder Pranav Ahuja: Pranav lucidly explained that through Xeno, about a lac customer campaigns have been created which are unique and specific to each customer. The favourite dishes of the customers, preferred day and time – these data points are utilized using Alfred – personal marketing assistant by utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence. Who, where, when and what to send – Xeno is there for the restaurants. Xeno has been catering to Biryani Blues, Nandos, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, Sumo Sushi etc.

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Since childhood, we have all been fond of the tangy waters of the gol gappas, the sweet and sour chutney of the chaat and the vegetable pakodas with the mint chutney. While travelling through the bylanes of Delhi, one can sense the aroma of the aloo chat or get a whiff of the bhalla papri. The street food has become our staple and it is difficult to imagine our life without one.

The Delhi Street Food Festival is one such platform where we can binge on a variety of street food dishes from across the country. Every state has its special street food and the varied flavours are a haven for a food explorer like me.

I shall begin writing about my recent experience at the Street Food Festival here. This was my second visit to this festival after a gap of two years. The entry ticket is very nominal and we need to buy coupons in packs of 10 for taking the food from different counters.  My mantra for such food festivals is to try food which I have not tried before. I prefer exploring different cuisines from different states at such events. Here are the dishes I savoured at this festival:

Litti Chhola: An average dish according to me because the chhola tasted raw. The gravy was thick though and was quite spicy. The litti was cooked well but it was not enough to save the dish.

Keema Parantha : A true mutton lover will definitely love this. Who thought that keema could be cooked and used as a filling for parantha? The paranthas were sizzling hot and the keema made them hotter. The keema was well cooked with the prominent flavours of black cardamom and green chilli. The aroma of black cardamom transformed this dish into a masterpiece. The paranthas were soft and thick and were delectable to eat. It can be found at Lucknow.

Litti Chicken : This time, everyone was actually dying to try this dish. It is considered a delicacy in Bihar and when you taste it, you will know why. First of all, the chicken is marinated with spices and fried for a very small amount of time. Then a thich gravy is prepared with onions, garlic, green chillis and all our North Indian spices. The gravy is sautéed for around fifteen minutes till it is cooked and then the litti pieces are added and sautéed. After some time, the previously cooked chicken pieces are added  to this mixture and cooked again. I actually watched the whole dish been made for half an hour. And this dish was worth the wait. I never ever had a better version of chicken before. The litti went well with the chicken. A must try for all the chicken lovers.

Sesame chicken : A common street food in Assam, this is one dish which is out of the world for people like me who have been born and brought on North Indian food. North Eastern food has been slowly dissolving into our food adventures (read momos) for the past ten years. But this dish is better than we all have tasted in the name of North-east. I mean, I do love momos and thukpa but sesame chicken is just too scrumptious. The sesame and chicken complement each other in this dish. The chicken is served with pulao which has peas and French beans added to it. The chicken is succulent and the gravy over it was spicy with sesame seeds adorning it.

Kakori Kebab : I have always been a big fan of kakori kebabs. This dish that I tried at the food festival was way different than what we usually have at the restaurants. The colour of the kebabs was yellow instead of the brown and no, they were not raw. They were equally good and melt in mouth. They were served with mint chutney.

Kahwa : I wonder why this particular beverage has not been included in our mainstream restaurant menus. I am not a big fan of teas and I usually go for the healthier green tea but Kahwa is my go to beverage from now on. This drink is a fusion of flavours and when I say fusion, it is an understatement. Green cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, honey, almonds and tea leaves. The tea is so refreshing that it can put your humble chai to shame. The honey and saffron in this concoction just play with your senses. And the best part is, it is light for the stomach and good for health. Kashmiri food has always been on my hit list and the kahwa made it worth all the effort.

There were many other dishes that I wanted to try at this festival but either the queue was too long or the ingredients were finished by the time we reached at the stall. Not too bad, there is always a next time.

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