Street food promotions in hotels

I guess you could say that a five star hotel evolves when it is able to put together a street food festival successfully. Two hotels in Delhi had off-shoots of street food concepts happening simultaneously. Claridges, the gracious Art Deco property that has been re-done subtly has a cutting chai festival. Served in ‘local’ glasses on a wire tray, the tea is poured out from an aluminium kettle just the way it would be on the side of the road. The tea is thick and slightly flavoured with cardamom. To accompany it are pakoras or ‘bhajjias’ made from onions and green chillies fried in a batter. Served in a cone of newspaper, they go down a treat with the tea: the only incongruity is looking around at the genteel guests of the hotel sitting in Pickwicks, the all-day diner where the festival is taking place – the hotel has managed the flavours of the street perfectly to the extent that you can hardly believe you are in a five star hotel. Not even the vada pao with its customary heat of red chilli chutney or the chana jor garam dispel the myth that you are not on the streets, munching at a roadside stall.

Chef Anurudh Khanna, who has donned the mantle of Executive Chef of The Park Hotel relatively recently, is a man with a mission. Always on the lookout for a sharp, novel idea for a food promotion, he seems to have found it in Street Foods of India. Khanna lost no time in calling one chef each from the sister hotels in Kolkata, Chennai and Navi Mumbai to put together a street food festival that was far, far more than just chaat and pani puri. There was raj kachori – Delhi’s iconic tennis ball-sized ‘puri’ filled to the brim with crunchies sprinkled over with a tongue-tingling sauce that is simultaneously sweet, sour and spicy. Then there was tandoori chicken, chholey kulchey, nihari kulchey and aloo tikkie.
 
The Kolkata contingent had Mughlai paratha, radhabholobi with alur dum and cauliflower samosas – a uniquely Bengali invention. From the South came kuttu paratha with gravy, just as you would have it on the streets of Madurai. Idlis, medhu vadas, sundal – the festival’s menu was a masterpiece of the tried and tested as well as the unexpected. A short while ago, Crowne Plaza Today had a memorable festival called Delhi 6 – the postal area of Chandni Chowk, which is the fount of all the city’s street food. It is obvious that the public loves the juxtaposition between five star luxury and the lip-smacking tastes of the street.