Who wouldn’t love to dig into some street food? Chatpata chaats, crisp dosas, steaming hot momos, spicy chowmein and succulent kebabs, If you walk into the Indian Street Food Festival at Radisson Blu’s Chill, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to sample a variety of these dishes found across the country.
Hosted on the terrace section of the restaurant, the setting on a winter evening is perfect to sample these freshly made delicacies. To up the street feel, the restaurant has bandis from various states like Sonar Bangla, Chandni Chowk ka khana, Bombay ki Chowpaty, Gangtok special and Anna ka Sappad whipping up fresh food Indian street style.
Start your meal with some crisp aloo tikki chaat or some samosa ragda. The tikki is surprisingly light and does not fill you up, so you can enjoy the remaining fare on offer. The samosa ragda has that authentic Mumbai feel, but could do with a little more chutney for that chatpata effect. Move on to some Luchi and Ghugni and fish fry from Sonar Bangla before sampling the kheema kaleji and galouti kebabs for some Lucknowi nazakat. The luchis (puris made with refined flour) and ghugni, a curry made from white peas, is a comforting, home-style preparation. The kheema kaleji and galouti kebabs are perfect for winter evenings with a nip in the air.
For those looking for a slightly healthier option there are the steamed momos at the Gangtok counter. Available in veg and mutton versions, the momos are accompanied by a spicy chilli garlic dip that is a perfect foil for the otherwise subtle momo flavours. Be warned though that while the mutton momos can be a little chewy; the veg ones are so light, you’ll find it hard to stop with just one.
The egg rolls and chowmein are alright, they could have used a few more spices and bordered on the bland. But the Bihari litthi chokha is a true delight. Much like the Rajasthani baati, the litthi is stuffed with sattu (roasted and ground chickpeas) before being roasted on a grill. The litthi is served with chokha – in this case potato, aubergine and tomato – which were the perfect accompaniment for the lightly spiced baked bread. The light mustard oil flavour in this Bihari dish was pleasant and rest assured that there is no ghee overload here.
For the Hyderabadi food lovers there is also paaya and biryani at the Hyderabad ki Tehzeeb counter. Apart from the street food counters, the restaurant also has the regular buffet spread of Indian and Continental dishes. The perfect way to round off one’s meal though would be to slurp down some delicious barf ke gole after you’ve had your fill of the chaats, chowmein, litthis and momos.
The Indian Street Food festival, which is on till November 21 is open for dinner. The menu changes every alternate day.
What: Indian Street Food Festival
Where: Chill, Radisson Blu
When: Dinner, till November 21
Meal for two: Rs. 2300 plus taxes
