The Paantya Restaurant, Shiv Niwas Palace

A food festival, Mewar Cuisine in Chennai and Chettinad Cuisine in Udaipur in Paantya Restaurant, Shiv Niwas Palace

An utsav is a festival celebrating the finer essences of a culture, be it art or music, dance or indeed, cuisine. An 'Utsav' festival was celebrated at The Park Hotel, in Chennai from July 26-30th where the focus was on Mewari cuisine. From all the choices available to them, The Park Hotel, Chennai decisively chose to host a Mewari Bhojya Utsav. Specialized cooks were flown in from the singular kitchens of the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel, Udaipur as representatives of the entire ambit of Mewari cooking. Needless to say, it was an exceptional attraction. Mewadi Goth the finest Mewari cuisine from the royal kitchens of Mewar featured archetypal Mewari food, with its distinctive flavours and textures. There was chicken cooked in sweet corn and fresh fish wrapped in green mint and coriander chutney. A highlight was the vegetarian section which included gutta ka saag, golden brown dal mewari and shimmering pulao scattered generously with raisins and cashew nuts. The meal was rounded off with the popular malai gewar. The master chef Mr. Vivek Kumar exclusively prepared this cuisine. He currently heads the kitchen at 'Paantya Restaurant', Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur.

Master Chef Vivek Kumar with a Mewar thali

Following the 'Utsav' in Chennai, the HRH Group of hotels, in reciprocity, organized a Chettinad Food Festival at Paantya Restaurant, Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur from August 4-13th. This festival catered distinctive Chettinad dishes prepared by the Master Chefs from 'The Park Hotel', Chennai - Marutha Muthu and Vellaichamy. Chettinad cuisine is a branch of south Indian cooking that specializes in non vegetarian food. The cuisine is not chilli hot as it is generally perceived. The spices used are subtle and intriguing and the secret lies in the use of roasted spices like coriander, cumin, pepper and fenugreek along with tamarind and 'marathi mokku' a sweet flower bud. This meal has a variety of delicacies that are hot and pungent with freshly ground masalas imparting a unique flavour. The vegetarian part of the meal included a number of sun dried and salted vegetables stored by the 'Aachis' the Chettiar women. The main course of their meal is either rice or rice preparations and bread, accompanied by a variety of curries, masalas, kozhambus and khormas.
Chefs from the south personally interacted with the guests as well as took part in a press conference organized expressly for them. A food tasting event was also held. The Chettinad Food Ustav was a massive success in Udaipur as it was the first time in Udaipur that region specific food was served and prepared by expert chefs.

An aray of dishes from the Chettinad