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Dilli
- Altrincham's award-winning, Michelin-rated restaurant - is to
launch the town's first festival of Indian food.
The
month-long event will coincide with Holi - the Hindu "festival
of lights" - which begins on March 22.
For
four weeks Dilli will present a unique collection of regional
specialities from the sub-continent's 29 states - from the familiar
Punjab to the less well-known Chettinad, Mangalore and Pondicherry.
"When
Dilli opened three years ago many people, who thought they knew what
Indian food tasted like, discovered they hadn't known the real
cuisine at all," says chef director, Ravi Bajaj.
"They
were used to dishes like Madras curry, Chicken Rogan Josh and others
that don't even exist in India. Since then they have come to know our
food a lot better but there are still regions of the country that are
unfamiliar or completely unknown to them.
"We
want people to experience the Halal specialities of Andhra, Assam,
Himachal, Karnataka and Kerala along with the foods of minority
communities like the Kayasths, Parsis, Brahmins and Syrian Christians."
The
Dilli Food Festival will journey around the sub-continent -
featuring rural dishes that have often never been written down but
are passed by word of mouth from generation to generation.
From
areas ranging from deserts and glacial mountains to tropical
rainforests &ldots; dishes that span the tandoori style of the Punjab
to mild west coast seafood curries and hot southern sauces &ldots;
traditional family recipes from the days before invading nations
introduced meat-eating to the vegetarian country &ldots; with an
Ayurvedic approach that combats health threats by using particular
ingredients to help maintain the body's natural balance.
Dilli's
outside catering wing will dedicate one day to delivering
pre-ordered lunches to the town's businesses and homeworkers to
celebrate the famous 'tiffin-wallahs' of Mumbai who distribute
175,000 homecooked meals a day to city workers.
Lunch
thalis will present a selection of dishes on traditional steel trays
with multiple compartments.
And
food fans who fancy eating Indian-style, with their fingers instead
of metal cutlery, can receive helpful tips from the Dilli staff.
The
Dilli Food Festival will begin on the first day of Holi, the two-day
Hindu 'festival of colours' which, along with Diwali, is one of
India's major religious festivals.
"It's
the perfect time to start a food festival like this," says
Ravi, "and to introduce customers to the real taste of a country
that is more than a third as big as the United States."
Dilli
- the original name for India's capital city New Delhi - is open
every day from 12 noon to 3pm, and 5.30pm to 11pm (10pm on Sunday) at
60 Stamford New Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 1EE. Telephone 0161
929 7484. Website: www.dilli.co.uk
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