Indian Food Festival at InterContinental

The festival was a true nod to the modern Indian culinary climate and sought to provide diners an authentic trip down the lanes of Kerala to Kashmir with a delectable assortment of flavours, zests and zings authentically native to these regions.

The High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Vikram K Doraiswami inaugurated the food festival. Also accompanying him in this grand endeavour was Kevin Wallace, general manager of InterContinental.

However, to show off his repertoire of culinary experiences, Chef Hardev Singh Saini was tagged from a sister concern of Intercontinental Hotels Group, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida in New Delhi, and especially flown to handle the kitchen during this scrumptious Dhaka affair.

"India is just one borderline away from here and so my target is simply to bring the best of India to the palates in Dhaka. Even though the cooking techniques and recipes hail from the cultures of India, all the produce, especially the vegetables, have all been authentically sourced from Dhaka," shares Saini.

And, so, the mélange of Indian culinary secrets and Bangladeshi greens and meats created an aromatic and mouth-watering buffet that could've won over even the toughest of critics. From chaats hailing from Delhi to live dosa stations, from shredded mirchi beef to Andhra and Ajwaini fish curries and, finally, from prawn malai curry to chicken tikka butter masala — every dish had a symphony of its own. But the highlight of this spectacular buffet has to be the Hyderabadi biryani, an absolute crowd favourite.

Fragrant in the spices used in its creation and tender in the chunks of meat generously running through the grains of basmati rice, you can't help but take a second spoonful of serving. To cap off this perfect meal, taking centre stage at Elements, was the everything-sweet corner — the dessert station, offering cakes, mousses and regional sweets to anyone with a sweet tooth!

InterContinental's trek through Indian food was a triumph. At the end of this journey, all you'll want to do is lean back and bask in the true satisfaction of gorging down a great meal.