WelcomHotel has come up another mouth-watering North Karnataka Food Festival.  The dishes prepared part of the food festival has been specially curated by home Chef Shri Bala.  It’s a great initiative by the WelcomHotel management to allow home chefs to showcase their talent.  Just a month back, the hotel had hosted an Andhra Food Festival and had invited Chef Sumitra to curate the dishes.  This lets the guests staying/visiting the hotel to try out different food during their visits.

Uttara Karnataka Food Festival

Shri Bala is one of the well-known chefs who wants been cooking from age of 14.  She has been on a mission got educate the world that South Indian is beyond Idly, Vada, Dosa and Sambar.  As part of the Uttara Karnataka Food Festival, she has identified dishes from different regions of North Karnataka.

Some of the amazing dishes curated by Chef for this food festival include – Jhunka Vadi, Badanekai Yennegayi Palya, Bendakayi Masuru Gojju, Karwar Fish Curry, Bhatkal Chicken Biryani, Dill/Sabsige Vada, Karwar Clams Curry, Girmit/Mandakki, Khus Khus Payasam, Bevu Bella, Pineapple Rasam.

Welcome Drink

The meal starts with the Bevu Bella drink which is also the welcome drink to food festival.  It’s a drink containing some neem seeds, jaggery and traditionally devoured during the Ugadi festival.  The drink has special significance which portray both sweetness & bitterness that may come.

Starters/Snacks

Jhunka Vadi, Dill/Sabsige Vada and Girmit were the dishes that were specially prepared for the food festival. The spicy level in the chutneys were toned down to make it easy for many of the guests to devour.  The taste of the vada was excellent and I ended up consuming multiple portions.

Main Course

Everytime we think abou the North Karantaka food, the Brinjol curry crosses everyones thought.  The dish has been most popularized in Bangalore by the Kamat group of hotels.  As part of this food festival Chef Shri Bala has prepared amazing Badanekai Yennegayi Palya.  It went along very well with the Jolada Rotti that was prepared.  I would have wanted the Rotti to be a little soft and layered, but still the flavours were very much present.

I also enjoyed the Bendakayi Masuru Gojju in which the ladies finger was very well cooked, and it had the right amount of Yogurt.  The curry tasted very good with the bread.

Being a vegetarian, I relished all the vegetarian dishes.  But, I noticed that my fellow friends also enjoying the non-vegetarian dishes Bhatkal Chicken Biryani & Karward fish curry.

About Jacaranda Restaurant

This restaurant hosts most of the food festival happening in the hotel.  When there are no food festivals, the restaurant serves buffet contains Indian and Continental food.

Final Thoughts

The dishes as part of the food festival have been carefully selected to give a glimpse of the North Karnataka food.  Kudos to effort of Chef Shri Bala in understanding the nuances and curating the amazing dishes.  I also appreciate the effort of Executive Chef Dhawal Ajmera and General Manager Kuldeep Dhawan for coming up with this brilliant idea.  Hoping to see many more food festivals in WelcomHotel and trying food from different regions of our country.

Details of the Food Festival

Schedule – 20^th to 29^th July 2018
Cost – INR 1300 + taxes
Time – Lunch & Dinner
Location – Jacaranda Restaurant, WelcomHotel, 46, Richmond Road,, Hosmat Chowk, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560025