DoubleTree Suites by Hilton’s restobar, Asia Alive, recently launched a latest Sunday brunch menu dedicated to millets. All the dishes that were served at the brunch featured millets. When we got to know about this special brunch, we decided to check it out as millets are the culinary mood of this year. We were welcomed with a special mocktail called Beautiful Sunrise, which was predominantly a mango-based drink.
We started off our meal with a Vegetable Millet Soup. This starter featured Pearl millets cooked with vegetables and various seasonings. The delicacy was rather soupy but was a lovely blend of savoury and spicy flavours. Soon, we were served Ragi Idiyappam with coconut milk. The idiyappam complemented the coconut milk very well but we would have preferred sweeter milk, just personal preferences. This was
followed up with Kodo Millet Mushroom Biryani and Chicken Millets Biryani. Featuring Barnyard millets, the biryanis were mildly spiced but were rich in flavour. For a biryani made with millets, we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.
Up next was the predictable Ragi Mudde with Natti Chicken Curry. The chicken curry was made using coconut milk, which gave it a richer texture than what we’re used to as gravy for a mudde. We were then served the Malai Broccoli next and this appetiser, made using cream cheese and various spices, was delectable to say the least. We noticed the dominant piquant flavour of mustard standing out and we’re pretty wowed by it.
We were then served a Ragi Adai and the millet pancake that also featured onion, curry leaves and chilli was complemented perfectly by a chicken curry and reminded us of home. The meal would have been incomplete without steamed rice and curry and we were happy to see our wish being fulfilled. Our meal
came to a close with some milletbased desserts and first up was Millet Kheer — cooked with condensed
milk, saffron and nuts. The Millet Chocolate Cake, that followed, was also something we tried for the f irst time and definitely recommend.
₹1,799 onwards. At Outer Ring Road
Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so