In their pursuit to bring the much-loved food from the skinny alleys of Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazaar of Old Delhi to Kolkata, The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat has organised a ‘Daawat E Dilli’. Curated by their master chef for Indian cuisine Chef Lokman Khan, who discovered himself in the kitchens of Chandni Chowk outlets as early as his early teens, the menu boasts of everything that’s synonymous with old Delhi. The lavish buffet spread boasts of chaats, kebabs, biryani, gosht, soya chaap, paranthe, chole-bhature and mouth-watering desserts among other delicacies. The assortment of accompanying pickles or chutneys made of garlic, cucumber, corn, roasted tomato and coriander to murabba spiced up the spread all the more. Apart from the regular drinks, we also spotted a wide variety of flavoured lassi on offer.
We settled in the 104-seater plush diner and the gastronomic onslaught began with an array of lip-smacking chatpata chaats famous in Delhi. The dahi bhallas were soft and spongy, with the curd having the right amount of sour quotient. The tamarind chutney spread over the chaat was perfectly balanced in taste, too. But Dahi Papdi emerged as the clear winner in the chaat section with its crispy papdis (gram flour flakes), coriander and tamarind chutneys doing wonders to our tastebuds. The scrumptious sev (crispy noodles made of gram flour) and onion rinds sprinkled all over the chaat made it all the more delectable. However, the samosas and kachodis did not quite live up to our expectations since we expected the kachodis to be served with aloo-sabji rather than chole. The samosas were not crispy enough to win us over.
The starters also comprised a flavourful platter of veg and non-veg kebabs and the three-four varieties of soya kebabs deserve a special shout out. The fish kebab in the starter menu was a little on the saltier side though.
The live counter had bhatures and kulchas served with chole and we must confess the chole bhature really took us to the gullies of Purani Dilli with the authentic piquant spicy chickpea dish making us crave for more. Interestingly, the bhaturas were also oily, just how they are made in old Delhi. But sadly the same couldn't be said about the kulcha, which was anodyne and extremely thick and hard to chew.
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For the main course, we had a plate of mutton biryani, which was well-cooked but what stood apart was the side dish, Chicken Changezi. Named after the Mongolian invader Chengiz Khan, this dish is unique to Chandni Chowk area. The chef too has stuck to the original recipe and cooked this dish with whole spices ground in the kitchen, which enhanced the taste further. The smoky flavour that the chicken acquired came from the burnt charcoal used while cooking the meat to perfection. For the vegetarians, there was Dal-dum, Malai Kofta, Paneer Achari among other zesty options and all of them get a thumbs up from us.
The fare ended on a sweet note with shahi tukda, ras malai, kulfi falooda and barf gola on the offering apart from the regular dessert dishes. Made from bread, sugar and milk, the shahi tukda was crispy and succulent all at the same time with the right amount of sweetness and a nice coating of thick malai.
The Dawaat-e-Dilli is on at the Seasonal Tastes, The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat till June 2 from 7.30 pm onwards.
Price: Rs 1,499 plus taxes per person