The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has organised a two-day Flower Food Festival in the national capital to celebrate flower-based dishes. NDMC chairman Amit Yadav will inaugurate the festival at 12 pm today (March 16), according to the Hindustan Times. It will take place at Palika Services Officers Institute (PSOI), Chanakyapuri, near the Nehru Park, NDMC said on Friday.
The Flower Food Festival will highlight the use of petals, stems and whole blossoms in diverse cuisines and dishes across India. It will feature a section on traditional dishes as well as their modern adaptations. There will also be a section on flower-based drinks, like the elderflower-infused cold coffee, saffron tea, rooibos tea and squash made with rhododendron (burnash).
“Several hotels, eateries, NGOs, and hospitality industry outlets will showcase their culinary expertise using flowers and offer floral-inspired delicacies to visitors,” Yadav said.
“The dishes will range from elderflower-infused cold coffee, sunflower sandwiches, heron flower (Bak Pholl) fritters, Sahjan ke phool ki bhaji. From the North-east, we will have dishes such as Alu Shoibum Kanghou made with bamboo flowers and shingju made with banana flowers and from West Bengal we will have Mocha Ghonta, Mochar Chop, and Kumro Phuler Bora,” the official added.
The Flower Food Festival is one of several flower-themed festivals that has been organised in Delhi to welcome spring – the others being the 12-day Tulip Festival that ended in February, Music in the Park, Rose Festival and a flower festival.
Entry to the festival is free. It will run from 12 noon to 9 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
During these two days, around 25 stalls will be put up by hotels and home cooks to showcase the best of flower-based food. The food stalls of Awadhi cuisine, for example, will serve desi gulab ki kheer, zafrani biryani and a special signature tea called Rahat Bakht Chai made with five flowers — roselle, lavender, cardamom, passionflower and rose, according to Times of India.
“Galouti kebab with kewra extraction and rose, chicken biryani genuinely prepared with dum and, of course, my special Rahat Bakht Chai will be must-tries,” said Saira Mujtava of Lucknow.
Other regional cuisines will also be represented at the festival – like West Bengal’s mochar ghonto and mochar chop.
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