Treat Yourself In Nawabi Style: Dawat -e- Lazzez - The Awadhi Food Festival at Westin Gurgaon

                             Dawaat - E- Lazzez: The Awadhi Food Festival at Westin Gurgaon

Awadhi cuisine originates from the land of Nawab's, the modern day city of Lucknow. The era known for the grandeur, mannerisms and monuments lives today with its cuisine. The peculiarity of the cuisine originating from this land lies in its style of cooking often described as "dum" synonymous for cooking on a slow fire, a technique than allows slow but substantial infusion of spices into the delicacy, such that it stands out grandly much like the Nawab shahab's it was cooked for. So when I got an invite for "Dawat-e-Lazzez", a festival that celebrates a culture, an era gone by with it's cuisine it was more than pleasure to experience it all right here in Gurgaon, in the company of my favorite food lovers Sneha (http://thekitchenespion.blogspot.in/) and Shalini (http://allthingsnice-shalinipereira.blogspot.in/).

                                    Master Chef Qadir Khan (picture courtesy: Shalini)

Awadhi cuisine stands out for their kebabs, breads, sweets and dum biryani. All of these in multiple varieties were on the menu at none other than The Awadhi Food Festival at Westin Gurgaon. The best part was though Nawab's were definitely not vegetarian, not alienating our species and those who for health or other reasons prefer the vegetarian cuisine were treated equally lavishly as vegetarian options too were multiple. All thanks to Master Chef Qadir Khan from whose kitchen originate the wonders you would now see. 

       The Aesthetically Pleasing Venue  "Seasonal Tastes": The 24 hour restaurant at Westin Gurgaon 

We were warmly welcome by the PR team Linopion and the extremely hospitable team of Westin Gurgaon. Seasonal Tastes - the 24 hour restaurant of Westin was the venue and its colors are enough to make you forget the worst Monday blues. To make us feel at home and relax after a long tiring day, we were served shots of Thandai (left) and Gulab Sherbet (right). Feeling relaxed thereafter we began on the mission to savor the delicacies and time travel into the era gone by.

                                                                       

The starters began with our all time favorite Paneer Tikka, which were soft and just perfect. The next kebab was Subz ki Seekh (left) - a perfect blend of spices and veggies . It was very soft, melt in mouth and rich in spice, this kebab tops my all time favorite kebabs. The next on the menu was the well known Gilouti Kebab (right). It was also very soft, much like the Nawabs would have loved and a little less spicy.

                

                                                                                                 

After relishing the kebabs of the Nawab's began our rendezvous with the main course which consisted of variety of Raitas, Dum Biryani, Dum Dal (thick yellow lentils cooked in dum style), variety of Papads, Mirch ka Salan. I particularly like Mirch Ka Salan which was again as my taste goes rich in spices (not pungent). The bread was Sheermal, which was different from the Kashmiri Sheermal, mildly sweet and rich and softer. This Sheermal is similar yet again as the nawabi food goes softer than the Mughlai Sheermal. 

Varieties of Papds and Curries with Dum Biryani's..Veg, Chicken and Mutton

The Main Course

Dessert Time: The best part of a meal for a sweet-tooth like me is always the dessert. I am sure the Nawab's would agree with me and therefore you can see a wide variety their cuisine consists of. I tried many of them for the first time like Jou Ki Sai which was something I have never tasted before. Even the traditional Badam Halwa and Shahi Tukda were rich and satiating to the taste buds and the soul. The sweet-tooth in me was in the heavens.

            Desserts Galore...Badam Halva, Shahi Tukda and Kheer

     Kubani Ka Meetha

                                         Jou ki Sai....the most delicious desert, tops my list.

                                                          The Traditional: Kesar Phirni 

                        The Satiating Plate For The Sweet Tooth...and this is just round one :P

A complete experience is the one where the mind is enriched along with the belly, and the conversation with Master Chef Qadir Khan was just that essential ingredient of the evening. He explained us in detail how each cuisine was cooked in dum style, the difference between spices, addition time and duration in Mughlai, Kashmiri and Awadhi cuisine. It was really sweet of him to solve our smallest queries in detail.

                            With Master Chef: Qadir Khan and Sneha (picture courtesy: Shalini)

                                                               The Satiated Soul: Me 

Worked too hard this week? It's time to treat yourself royally - the Nawabi style only at "Dawat-e-Lazzez"- The Awadhi Food Festival at Westin, Gurgaon.  It ends on 28th February 2015, so hurry...

I thank Sukhdeep Bahra, Chef Deepak Bhatia and Masterchef Qadir Khan  from Westin Gurgaon for the amazing hospitality and delicious cuisine. Special Thanks to Mounisha Chakraborty from Linopinion for the invite.