Abdul Rahman M. Baig

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Indian food festival titled “Flavors of India” is ongoing in Nafoura, Park Hyatt Jeddah’s award-winning restaurant. Several diplomats and top community members were present during the opening ceremony.



Ashwini Kumar, General manager of Park Hyatt, Jeddah, welcomed the guest to the world’s most exciting cuisine for ten consecutive days. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, he said “I am very delighted to have Indian food festival in Park Hyatt Jeddah. The chef is from Delhi. He is the corporate Indian chef of Hyatt Group. He came here with the original spices from India. For the first two days, he spent cooking the food here with my team.



“We even have couple of chefs from different parts of India. We use a very authentic seta balls in our restaurants and very special spices to give it really a traditional look. We have food from different parts of India. We will be serving our guests with tandoor items. We also have very good and fresh delicacy desserts like Ras Malai, Gulab Jamun, Ladoos, etc…..



“I would like to see more people specially Saudis as well as other nationals to come to our restaurant and taste the aroma of India. This festival will continue till  Oct. 18. We will be charging a special price of SR219 during this festival in the restaurant. We will also be doing Turkish, Greek, Italian, French and explore more and more food. “



Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak, who attended the inauguration, said that the food is amazing and it’s good to see Indian food environment here.  Waleed Al Oloumi, the editor in chief for Ahlan Wa Sahlan magazine said, “Today I am enjoying Indian food here in Nafoura. I like the way the hotel staff welcomed me by serving Lassi upon entering the restaurant. It was quite sweet while drinking. I am very much familiar with Indian food as I eat here with my family once or twice a month. We have our regular family lunch or dinner once a month in an Indian restaurant. My family is a lover of Dal, Kadai’s and Tikka’s.”



Mahmoud Al Wadi, editor in chief for Alam Arrajol (Men’s World) magazine, said, “There are so many similarities between Indian kitchen and Arabic kitchen. The only difference I feel is the spices added to the food. We have several Indians living in the Arabian Peninsula for the last few decades. I remember when I was in Paris with my family ten years back, It was only Indian food we were eating there, as the taste of food is no  different from our Arabic food. It’s not only food also there are so many traditions and culture in India, which are familiar to Arabs. My family and myself are Indian food lovers and today I liked the food a lot, however, it was a very spicy and hot but I liked it.



Fikret Ozer, Turkish Consul General, said, “Indian food here is quite tasty, I am not much familiar with Indian food, but what I know is that Indians use lots of spices in their food. I liked the Tandoori items, Kebabs and desserts prepared today in the festival. It had a very special taste. This is my third time that I am eating Indian food. I will be visiting India with my family very soon and will eat more Tandoori items there in India. The Indian Consul General too has introduced me to some more Indian foods today while I was having dinner with him few minutes back. “



Anil Khurana, the corporate Indian chef of Hyatt Group who is here for the festival, said, “I am glad to see people here loving Indian food. Some people are complaining that the food is very spicy, however, Indian food does not get the touch unless it is a bit spicy. Being the corporate Indian chef of Hyatt Group, I have been in this industry for the last 32 years and had traveled to many countries for food festival but did not see the food lovers like here.



“Today we have prepared the tandoori items, we will be going to prepare variety of foods from the different regions of India like Bihar, South Indian, Punjabi, North Indian, Rajasthani in the coming days.”



Guests savored the best of India and indulged in a variety of aromatic herbs and special spices. Authentic dishes ranging from refreshing masala tea, tandoor to mouth watering desserts were specially crafted for the festival.