Dishes you are relishing in the pandals can feature in the menus of your favourite joint in the near future. Durga Puja venues are offering a chance to the brands and local eateries to hold sampling sessions, says Karan Bhardwaj
Unfazed by the record crowd-swell at the Arambagh Durga Puja, Payal Dasgupta, a 26-year-old professional clad in a black net sari, had a moment of her lifetime, as she gorged on malai kebabs at this huge pandal. For her, food is the prime factor associated withe the puja pandals. Socialising, music and dance are the add ons for her. Payal is not the only one, there are thousands of pandal hoppers who juggle between one puja venue to the other for best food. Cashing in on the culinary bonanza are major brands — big and small, outlets and local eateries. They are using the pandal as a platform for promotion. They are serving unique food items, have lowered the prices and are also doing sampling activities at the venues.
Check this out
Take Ikshuh, an upcoming restaurant in Noida. The owners have a put a stall at Durga Puja in Noida Sector 50, where they are serving home-made Bengali food with a twist. Menu offers chicken fry with peri peri sauce, honey mustard sauce, mutton kosha with parantha, chap style mutton. “We wanted to get a sense of people’s taste. All these recipes are crafted by my mother but we wanted to be sure before investing our money into the restaurant. People are liking it and now, we will soon start our eatery,” says Kunal from Ikshuh. Al Masakh has also done limited sampling. They offered shahi tukda (bread dessert) to the guests on the first day, and were quite happy with the response. The stall also has combo meals, especially non-veg, comprising biryani, korma and kebabs at reasonable prices. “The number of footfall is high. So it has become an excellent platform for branding. Some local outlets are consolidating their presence to increase customer base. They are circulating pamphlets and written material,” says Arindam Mukherjee, general secretary, Saptarshi Sangha Puja committee, Noida sector 50.
Mix and match
Apart from savouring traditional Bengali food, foodies are gorging on purani dilli ka khana. Classic Caterers, a well-known service provider from the old Delhi brought special delicacies from the popular area. The stall, titled ‘Puraani Dilli ka Mughlai Food Bazar,’ offers chicken changezi, malai tikka, chicken dum biryani, chicken seekh kebab, all dipped in gravy and butter. “Out butter ka tadka is a special addition here and people are loving it. Also, prices are reasonable so we are expecting a good turnover by the end,” says Mukhtar Ahmad from the Classic Caterers. Next to this stall are Mother Dairy and Nescafe, selling some delicious kulfis, ice creams and cold coffee.
Serve it right
Emphasis is being laid on the plating. Bong Bento at CR Park’s M-block is particular about how it serves. It’s selling in boxes (like sushi boxes), neatly done by a team of three women. “The box has fried prawn orly, fish fry and some chutney with salad,” informs Deepika Singh. Even Ikshuh is paying attention to its plating. At the stall, guests are allowed to customise their plate by hand-picking their own ingredients.
Original and authentic
The Arambagh Puja Samiti has brought Kolkata caterers and chefs. All the items served in bhog are made up of ingredients imported from East. “Since we are celebrating Silver Jubilee year, we want every thing traditional. For saptami, we offered pakoda, khichdi, chochodi (mixed veg), kheer (made up from Kolkata’s Govind Bhog chawal), chutni (aam), papad, sweet,” says SK Chakraborty from the orgainsing committee. Sangi Sathi Caterers from Kharagpur has Bengali’s favourites like bhetki fish fry, dum biryani and fish paturi among other items. “Prices are low because people from various backgrounds come for the puja,” says owner Subrara Kumar.
Brand practice
Major brands like Domino’s, Yo! China, Real, Pizza Hut, Mother Dairy, Nescafe have jumped on the bandwagon. They have stalls at almost all major pandals in the city. Dabur has collaborated with 10 pandals in Delhi and Kolkata to distribute over a lakh packs of Real juices.
“Fruits have always been a part of festivities. So we are offering fresh juices with bhog. It helps us connect with the customers because they turn up in large numbers for the bhog,” says Praveen Jaipuriar, Head for Food, Dabur India.