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All You Need To Know About Prince William & Kate Middleton’s Royal Indian Feast

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge step foot on India soil for the first time yesterday. The Royal couple is on a seven-day tour of India and Bhutan and kicked off their trip in Mumbai with a cricket session at the Mumbai Oval Maidan with local kids and Sachin Tendulkar. This was followed by the much talked about Royal feast at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai.

The evening saw a charity dinner hosted by the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palace in collaboration with the British Asian Trust to raise awareness and funds for a sustainable future. The event aimed at raising funds for Prince Charles’ Charity that works with underprivileged classes across India.

 

A Star Studded Night

A Royal evening is bound to be a star-studded affair, and so it was. The dinner was attended by the crème de la crème of Bollywood, the Sports fraternity and top-notch businessmen as well. The guest list was graced by eminent names like Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Shah Rukh Khan, Rishi Kapoor and many others.

Painted in shades of India with lovely accents of elegance and charm, the evening was complete with an entertainment schedule for Their Royal Highnesses. The food, however, was the show stealer. The specially curated menu featured select vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies. And in harmony with the current Navratri celebrations, the vegetarian section was a spectacle, to say the least.

 

Feast A La India

Drawing inspiration from dinners served to the Maharaja’s, the menu consisted of three courses – starters, mains and dessert – served on traditional silver platters. All of which were a quick trip to gastronomical heaven.

“We wanted them to experience a royal Indian dinner and give them a taste of our rich legacy. The menu, therefore, had specialties from Lucknow and Hyderabad showcasing dishes that our Nawabs ate back in the day.

The Duke and Duchess are vegetarian, so the vegetarian thali was created keeping that in mind. The preparation was absolutely authentic, but we choose dishes that were high on flavor and moderately spiced to suit their palate,” Executive Chef Amit Chowdhury tells us. A team of 228 people who made sure that everything starting from the décor right down to the food was on point pulled off this gargantuan feat successfully.

 

Three-Course Delight

Starters consisted of a special amuse bouche, which was a molecular Pakodi Chaat with a striking blood orange caviar. The eclectic starter was followed by the lavish thalis.

Vegetarians were treated to a Dal Langarwali (black urad and channa dal cooked to perfection tempered with pure ghee), Lakhnavi delicacy Paneer Shahi Korma, Subz Gandheri Kebab (a blend of vegetables on a sugarcane stick, a specialty of Hyderabad), Khumb Makhana Mattar (mushrooms, peas and fox nuts, cooked in rich tomato gravy), chhonka palak (spinach tempered with garlic, finished with dried fenugreek leaves).

Meanwhile, the non-vegetarians feasted on Ajwaini Macchli (fish chunks marinated with hung yoghurt and bishops weed, charbroiled in tandoor), Kundan Kalia (boneless lamb cooked with spices and topped with gold varq) and Shahi Murg ka Soyota (chicken morsels cooked in a rich saffron, cashew and corn-based gravy) were served. Accompanying these dishes was some Awadhi Gosht Biryani, Boondi and Mint Raita and Lucknowi Vegetarian Biryani.

The banquet was ended on a sweet note with classic Indian desserts like Sharifa Kulfi, Rabdi and Chhenna Payas.

 

Up Next

Up next on the Royal itinerary is visit to Mumbai’s Todi Mill Social (yes, the Social Offline) to meet with young aspiring entrepreneurs to promote ‘GREAT for Collaboration’: a campaign launched by the UK government to celebrate and inspire collaborations between UK and India.

Following the Social meet, Prince William and Kate Middleton will head to the Capital to attend a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12th April. Thereafter, they will travel to Assam to visit the Kaziranga National Park. With a quick detour trip to Bhutan, they will return to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to visit the Taj Mahal.124878

Image: Express UK

 

Feature Image: US Magazine

Binge eater by day and binge watcher by night, Ankita is fluent in food, film, and Internet. When she’s not obsessing over the hottest trends, tacos, and the perfect author’s bio, you can find her under a pile of Jeffery Archer’s novels or looking for the nearest wine shop.