Women will be women. And the fact that they are constantly looking to cook and serve different dishes was evident at the last round of the Freedom Refined Oil’s The Hindu MetroPlus Cookery Contest 2013 held at Meena Garden Function Hall, Vijayanagar Colony. It was a contest for sure but participants were enthusiastically seen exchanging notes and recipes with fellow participants. Daring the afternoon heat on a Sunday, over 300 women made the last leg of the third edition of the cookery contest a grand success with a huge array of dishes presented in their own style. Some dishes were truly unique and some quite innovative.
Elderly women mostly stuck to the traditional sweets made of oats and various millets and young girls loved showing off their grilled and baked food items.
A few of the women showcased traditional dishes and the fellow participants lapped them up, along with the recipe and a word on how to perfect it. A few of such dishes were bamboo chicken, claypot prawns, fish biryani, haleem with sheermal, assorted bhel, paratha with traditional non-vegetarian curry etc. Janaki M who came along with a participant said, “It is like watching several cookery shows under one roof. I stay close by, I couldn’t participate but I still came to be a part of it.”
A number of young participants were also seen with their array of desserts and each of them tried something different. In the dessert section everything from cakes, puddings to kheer was put on display.
One participant made kheer with the non-red portion of the inside of the watermelon fruit and she was very eager to offer her dish to those who passed by her table. As she does that, she makes sure that the ingredients and the method of cooking is shared.
Keeping the family members and the participants entertained were children who danced and sang on stage.
The judges from Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and applied Nutrition did a good job of discussing the dishes with the participants and suggesting tips to improve the dishes and the participants loved the suggestions that came their way.
One of the judges remarked that variety and the number of non-veg dishes presented in this venue was the maximum.
Before announcing the three winners each for the three different categories, a lucky draw was conducted and surprise gifts were given to the participants.
Finally the winners were announced amid lot of cheer.
WINNERS:
Vegetarian
Shalini Jain, Pooja Sharma, Manasi Panigrahi
Non veg
Fauzisa Nahid, Syeda Usamah, Humera Fatima;
Desserts: Yoshita B Seth, Sarika Agarwal, Amreen Sultana.
SPONSORS
Contest sponsor: Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil
Refreshment sponsor: Akanksha
Prize sponsors: Maa Jewellery
Lucky dip gift sponsors: Master Weaver andHomoeocare International
Water sponsor: Bisleri
Media sponsors: Hindi Milap, the Siasat daily, and Red FM.