It was humour and good food that created a splash at the The Hindu MetroPlus Cookery Contest-2011 at Crystal Garden in Mehdipatnam on Saturday. The ambiance was festive matching the season, so what if an autorickshaw bandh affected many transport plans. Sufficient aisle space, a lawn for children to frolic and spacious parking arrangements ensured that the family members could lend a helping hand to the contestants for giving the finishing touches.
Tayyeba Naaz, pursuing a course in biotechnology, came in early and set up the dramatic dish with an equally mouthful name: Chicken Sevi Lollipop with Sweet and Sour Date Stuffing on Rainbow Rice Bed. J. P. Bharathi, a college teacher created the colourful sprouting vegetable cups with a humanoid mascot made from an onion slice, ragi grains, pepper, chillies, carrot, tomato and a spring onion. There was Runa Karan who created Lazeez Chudwa Gosht (a deep fried spiced meat mince laced with cashewnuts and almonds) with a bottomline that the meat dish can be stored for up to 10 days if kept in an airtight container. Innovative? You bet.
If ingenuity was one strain of thought, there were enough women who tried their luck by bringing in their favourite creations: Gutti Kakarkayi Kura, Marg Mutton Shorba, Malai Kofta Curry, Dahi Vadey, Egg Fried Rice, Kheema Koftay, Kaddu ke Koftay and similar home delicacies.
Two-month-old Sparsh drooled and dawdled in his father's arms as his mother Ipshita Roy Chowdhary tried to explain the finer points about her creation Lemon Haze. Just back from a trip to spiritual Mansarovar, Attili Sujatha created her speciality Arati Dawa Kura created with the inner central stem from the banana plant from their kitchen garden. If 18-year-old Afreen Naaz a B. Com student of Maitri College created Shahi Moghal Labdi in a red clay serving pot decorated with mirror work, there was 75-year-old Vanita Sheth who created Assorted Fruit Bites.
Judging the contest were some of the top chefs and food enthusiasts from the city: Partha Chakrabarti, executive chef, Marigold at Green Park; Sumeet Sood, Executive Chef Taj Banjara; Rajeev Janveja, Executive Chef Vivanta at Taj, Smita Dugar of MasterChef fame and two food enthusiasts: Radhika Shailendra and Anita Choubey. After tasting and eyeing everything they declared A Girija Rao, Shubhabharati, P Sridevi winners in the sweets and desserts category. In the vegetarian section J. Prasannna, Sarita Hirawat and J.P. Bharati were declared the winners while in the non-vegetarian section Tayebba Naaz, Meherunnisa and Juvvari Irrum were named the winners. The nine winners get a shot to participate in the grand finale at Hotel Katriya on October 22.
The next round of the contest is at Sri Sai Function Hall in Dilsukhnagar.
The contest in its second edition is being presented by Freedom Sunflower Refined Oil, Indian Oil is the associate sponsor, Maa TV is the channel partner, Hindi Milap and Siasat are print partners, Red FM is the radio partner, the hospitality sponsor is Hotel Katriya, Chanakya is the refreshments sponsor.
The gifts are sponsored by Durga Jewellers, All new Clix, Sua Gifts and Corelle.
Consolation prize winners
Sweet/Dessert
Komala - SD 19
Afreen Naaz SD 65
Anju Agarwal - SD 75
Vegetarian
Srilatha - VG 72
Akshada Thakur -VG 95
Kusuma - VG 102
Non-vegetarian
Yasmin Fatima - NV 080
Tahera Roshan - NV 082
Rahila Nishad
(The winners can call 040-23403902 to collect their prizes)
