Come April, and people across India ring in the harvest season, and regional New Years including Kerala’s Vishu, Baisakhi in Punjab or Bohag Bihu in Assam, to name a few. With our neighbouring countries celebrating their annual harvest season too, a number of restaurants in Bengaluru are commemorating this with flavours from Burma, Sri Lanka and even Nepal.
We bring you a roundup of what’s being planned this year.
Dishes at Bamey’s | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Flavours of Nepal @ Bamey’s
In addition to live music and dance performances, the Nepalese restaurant is all set to ring in the country’s New Year with a vegetarian and non-vegetarian thakali that features an array of Nepali fare. Dishes include dal bhat, a range of achaars, probiotic-rich gundruk, tarkari, accompanied by desserts such as sel roti and khir; and beverages chaang and chiya.
₹1,270 per person. On April 14 from 2 pm to 7 pm at Bamey’s Gastro Bar, Koramangala. 9606919108
Kiri Bhath at Yo Colombo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sri Lankan treats @ Yo Colombo
Ring in the Sri Lankan New Year at this restaurant helmed by Chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar with a range of kiribhath offerings. It is during the New Year when new rice from the harvest is cooked with coconut milk, to make the festive dish, making it an important ritual of the auspicious day.
The rice is then spread on a banana leaf and smoothed down with another banana leaf, and then cut into square or diamond shapes and eaten at room temperature with sambols, coconut, jaggery or ripe bananas. At the restaurant, guests can savour the kiribhath cooked using indigenous rice varieties such as gobindo bhog, Burma black from Karnataka. The milk rice cakes — topped with an array of sambols — will come in cane baskets.
Yo Colombo is at Stage 3, Indiranagar. To order, call 88678 25223
A Karnataka-inspired panchkuta saag at The Oberoi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
An India harvest @ The Oberoi
At Lapis, the all-day diner, a Sunday brunch that brings together harvest treats from across the country awaits diners. For instance, millet dishes for Ugadi (Karnataka), appams and stew for Vishu (Kerala), chole bhature for Baisakhi (Punjab), chingrimalai curry for Nobo Borsho (Bengal) and masor tenga (fish curry) for Bihu (Assam).
April 14, 1 pm onwards. ₹3,550 + tax for the non-alcoholic meal, ₹4,500 + plus tax, with alcohol
The fare at Burma Burma | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Village Set @ Burma Burma
Enjoy the Burmese New Year with a limited edition festive menu. This week, Thingyan, also known as the water festival, will be celebrated at Burma Burma. The festivities include a limited-edition festive menu, and the highlight is Village Set (₹1,850), a sharing meal for two that comprises an assortment of small plates (from the main festival menu) served on a large, flat cane basket. The festival menu comprises dishes such as sweet lime and shallot salad, an assorted fries platter, tofu and onion stir fry, pumpkin and broad bean curry, roselle and mushroom stir fry, among others. Desserts include banana sanwin makin, lemon poppy seed ice cream, and mont lone yay paw, the traditional Thingyan sweet of rice flour dumplings filled with palm jaggery and topped with shredded coconut.
April 11 to May 19 at outlets across the city
Homemade pad thai noodle receipe with prawns, tofu, spring onions, ginger, peanuts and fried egg | Photo Credit: GMVozd
Auspicious meal @ Thai Alley
Parades, pageants, and the largest water festival commemorate Songkran or Thai New Year’s Day. While we cannot bring these activities, you can savour delicacies linked to the festival. At Thai Alley, a menu bringing together auspicious ingredients has been curated. It includes dishes such as pla rad prik, deep fried tilapia fish with chilli sauce that symbolises abundance and wealth; pad ka prao tofu, that brings happiness and peace; stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts, as chicken is a symbol of progress; among others.
From April 13 to 28, at Kammanahalli Main Rd, St Thomas Town, Ramaiah Layout, Kacharakanahalli
