Chef Sweety Singh, who carries his own secret spice basket with him, served up a delectable spread of Punjabi food. By Ayushi Sharma
While the temperature heads south the desire to devour remains constant and food from Punjab is perfect for this. With its rich ingredients like butter, ghee, missi and sarson the cuisine keeps you warm from inside and leaves an afterglow of satisfaction. So, be a half desi and a full Punjabi because the season demands it.
With lots of wakhra love a Punjabi food festival at K3 JW Marriott was there to give people a chance of experiencing the taste of Amritsar.
The 11-day celebration was a glimpse of traditional and authentic preparations by the master of spice, chef Sweety Singh, also known as Harjinder Singh, who specialises in preparing authentic Punjabi cuisine using his own combination of spices, which he carries with himself wherever he goes.
Singh presented culinary secrets from the heartlands of Punjab and said that he draws his inspiration from the traditional eateries.
“I am glad that I have teamed-up with the hotel for the festival. It’s fun to curate a memorable menu of mouth-watering Punjabi delicacies. The taste profile of Punjabi food does not lie in dollops of butter, red colouring and cashew flavouring, it is more about how well you saute and let the main ingredient cook in the secret spice,” he said.
Chef Sweety insisted that we eat in true Punjabi style and ditch the fork for hands and he kept on pushing dishes after dishes on our plate. One was the Pindi choley, made in simple tomato free masala, with butter naan, that was more crisp for comfort.
The festival gave the food connoisseur a wide variety of Punjabi dishes to choose from — both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Taking inspiration from his father, the chef has created a scrumptious menu which also included specially-crafted delicious dishes from the live counters like Bhatti ka kukkad, a classic Punjabi temptation where chicken chunks are marinated in herbs till they turn saffron and roasted till its smoky in the (bhatti) tandoor. Then there was Lahori paneer tikka, Meat diya seekha, Highway tandoori kukka and Sarson da saag with missi di roti which were earthy and hearty dishes abundant in flavour, nutrients and colour; much like the land and the people it belongs to.
Each and every dish served was made with homemade masalas and in a traditional style to keep the authentic taste intact.
The chefs at K3 along with chef Sweety dished out mouth-watering delicacies for both lunch and dinner during the sumptuous festival. To bring the meal to an apt end, you could treat your sweet tooth with Jalebi with laccha rabri because what’s a festival meal without some sigh-inducing desserts.
The magic of Amritsari Swad was all about the culture and the love with which the dishes were served.
