Enjoy the last day of Kayasth Virasat - a food festival inspired by Kayasth cuisine at The Park Bangalore

The Park Bangalore recently started a food festival that showcases delicacies from the Kayasth cuisine. The Kayasth cuisine has a blend of flavours and cooking techniques from diverse cultural heritage. These include their Muslim roots to British and regional influences. The cuisine has an array of meat and vegetarian delicacies that are slowly cooked using techniques like dum, bhuna and dhungar. One of the major elements of the cuisine is the usage of ghee.

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Venu Mathur brings this unique culinary experience to the city. She is the curator of the special menu titled Kayasth Virasat. She opened her culinary venture called Bageechi Kitchen in Delhi in 2020 and ever since it has been going strong. She aims to introduce the Kayasth cuisine to a wider audience.

When we got to know about this special menu, we couldn’t help but check it out. So, we headed to The Park Bangalore for lunch. Glancing at the menu, we had ample dishes to sample. From appetisers like Kathal Kayastiyana and Gosht Shami Kebab to main course dishes like Khoya Matar Makhana and Palak Murg, there was something for everyone.   

So, we decided to try out their thalis which would give us a chance to check out most of the dishes. But before we could sample on the thali, we were welcomed with a glass of Aam Panna. Even though Bengaluru’s weather has cooled down a bit due to the rains, we still felt energised after having the drink. The sweet and sour taste was something we couldn’t resist, and we almost decided on going for another round.  

While sipping on the drinks, the thalis arrived. Our thalis were a mix of chicken and mutton dishes (You can order the chicken thali and mutton thali separately). The delicacies in the thalis include Chicken Shami, Cholai Anar Ke Kulle, Hari Chutney, Chicken Dungari Korma, Aloo Ki Subzi, Sultani Dal, Subz Tehri, Bedmi Poori, Bhakarkhani, Makhane Ki Kheer and Nagori Halwa.  

We didn’t know where to start. Then we decided to start with Chicken Shami and Cholai Anar Ke Kulle. The Chicken Shami were minced kebabs with a spice mix and shallow fried. The spice level was mellow, and the dish was flavourful. Cholai Anar Ke Kulle was chaat prepared with scooped potatoes, filled with white chana and pomegranate. Both the delicacies were on point and our meal was off to a good start.  

Then we picked up the Bedmi Poori and paired them with Aloo Ki Subzi and Sultani Dal. The Bedmi Poori were crispy and were cooked using urad dal and wheat flour. When we had it with the Aloo Ki Subzi, it was like heaven for us. Some dishes are meant to be had together and this certainly is one. The Sultani dal was cooked with cream, milk and spices and garnished with saffron. The flavour of saffron was a bit overpowering.   

It was time to shift our focus to the rice item. So, we tried the Subz Tehri which was vegetables and basmati rice cooked with aromatic spices in milk and saffron. We paired the rice with Chicken Dungari Korma and Badam Parsinda. The korma was cooked in yoghurt and spice gravy while the Badam Parsinda were boneless flat mutton pieces made with almonds, cashews, khus and sesame seeds. Both the delicacies were a bit spicy but that was the beauty of it. They paired perfectly with the Subz Tehri.

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We were about to finish our lunch and thankfully, we had space to try out the dessert. We sampled Nagori Halwa and Makhane Ki Kheer. The halwa was cooked with saffron, clarified butter and cardamom while the kheer was puffed lotus seed cooked in reduced milk and sugar. Talk about a perfect ending! 

This food festival ends today. So, make the most of it if you love orwant to try the Kayasth cuisine.

Rs 699 onwards. Until May 7. At Monsoon, MG Road.

Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so