The Afghani Food Festival | The Vivanta by Taj - Whitefield | Bangalore
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| Veg Kofta Preparation |
Pretty recently we
had a taste of true Middle Eastern food about which we had posted too. The
Middle East encompasses a huge land mass consisting of many countries and
cultures. This time we bring to you our experience of the Afghan Food Festival
at The Vivanta by Taj—Whitefield, Bangalore.
The last time we mentioned that the taste was surreal and
mostly the kebabs and preparations had Turkish and Moroccan spices. This time,
not only were the dishes different but also all of them had an Afghan touch to
it. One can understand this, mainly due to the richness of the preparations.
This is an ongoing festival at the legendary restaurant
Terracotta which runs till the end of this month. (Unfortunately, we are a bit
late to announce it this time!) The ambiance is very rustic and there is a lot
of ambient light in the restaurant.
So, whatever you read and see—if you like it: hurry!
Just joking, you still have some time as some of the dishes
in the menu are going to be incorporated in the original menu based on customer
response. Now how cool is that?
Now, coming down to this feast of flavours:
First up, we were served traditional Afghani Doogh. It is a
refreshing drink made with butter milk and loads of mint. This acts a coolant
and prepares you for the upcoming feast.
After this, we tried the Bonjon salad which is an eggplant
preparation with Lavash. The salad was in the form of a lump. It was spicy,
smoky and tasty. The lavash was in the form of a papad to accompany the
eggplant salad.
Next up was the Kalah Pacha or the Afghani lamb soup. This
was one of the best soups we have had till date. The bony pieces of mutton are
cooked overnight and the broth tastes like liquid mutton. The aroma of the soup
was mind blowing.
The kebabs were next and it didn’t disappoint us. The
Chicken Kibbeh was a kofta preparation. It mainly had minced chicken, some
herbs and spices and it was very juicy. Taste wise it was a bit bland so either
it is supposed to be like this, or the herbs and spices should have been a bit
more.
The beef chapli kebab was a wonder. The kebabs were flat
with stone minced beef and had chopped green chillies and onions. There was
freshness in each bite coupled with a spicy touch.
The best kebab according to us was the lamb chop. It was
creamy, spicy and delicious beyond imagination. The meat was well done and that
smoky touch always does wonders!
The Afghani Malai Fish Sheekh was also very impressive. The
preparation consisted of big rolls of fish, having the freshness of coriander,
spices and needless to say: Malai!
From the veg side the Mushroom ki Galauti was insanely
tasty. Imagine a perfect mutton galouti and substitute the essence of mutton
with that of mushrooms. Yes! That is exactly how this tasted. Brilliantly
executed and a must try!
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| Chicken Kibbeh |
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| Beef Chapli Kebab |
The Kebabs are accompanied with Afghani breads as they
consider it to be a full meal.
Now that’s all from the starters. Time for the main course:
We were served in sample portions as we were already stuffed
with the kebabs. There were 4 parts of the main course we tried:
The Mantu was an onion and lamb dumpling preparation topped
off with yoghurt and quroot sauce. It was delightful to say the least. The
dumplings alone were delicious and with the sauce it tasted even better.
The Lavand-e-Murgh was a chicken preparation with Yoghurt.
It was spicy and had a very different taste to what we normally have. Excellent
stuff!
The Qurma-e-Gosht Kachalo was the mutton preparation with
potatoes. It was a thick mutton stew with potatoes. The preparation was simple,
very homely and lip smacking. Every morsel of it had the amazing aroma of lamb.
We felt that the mutton could have been cooked a bit more in this case.
We had the Kabuli Pulao as the accompaniment and it was
another wonder! It tastes sort of like biriyani but very different. The rice is
cooked with mutton and stock and retains the flavours. It is topped off with
fried raisins, pistachios and carrots. The rice itself could act as a full
meal.
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| Mantu |
We found that Afghani cuisine has a lot to do with dill
leaves as they use it a lot.
Just thinking about these items make us want to go back and
relive this experience.
Now, it’s dessert time:
We had the Dates and Pistachio baklava and the Sheer Khurma
which tasted a lot like our traditional payesam with a few differences.
The baklava’s were triangular in shape and filled with dates
and pistachios. The sweetness was perfect and it was soft and well layered.
The Sheer Khurma was also not too sweet. It had saffron
which imparted a unique and excellent aroma. The rest was just like our payesam
with a thicker consistency.
So, that’s all from this amazing Afghani feast. The kebabs
and mains are definitely worth a try. We hope they incorporate some of these
lip smacking preparations in their regular menu.
Overall, this festival is bound to leave a solid impression
on all its customers: because the food was excellent.
Since there is not much time left, if you guys want to visit
during the festival: fly! :P
If not, they will surely incorporate some of these items so
there is always an option of visiting later!
In case you guys visit, do let us know about your
experience.
Till then, we’ll bring you some more food adventures and bon
appétit!
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