April 13, every year is celebrated in Punjab as Baisakhi to mark the onset of harvesting season with music and the choicest traditional food. It is not only in Punjab, that we celebrate Baisakhi, but in all zones of India, Baisakhi is heralded with similar gusto and vigour. Department of Hotel Management, Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology (GGNIMT), Civil Lines, Ludhiana organized a multi cuisine, traditional Indian Foods festival, The Taste of India today. Students recreated the ambience of different states and also offered a mélange of traditional foods from Punjab, Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu at invitation prices. The festival was inaugurated by Chef Nellu Kaura, promoter of Chef Kala. Chef Nellu appreciated the initiative by GGNIMT to offer multiple cuisines under a single roof and that too at very reasonable prices, as this would encourage the students to taste and also relish the diversity of Indian Foods.
Prof. Manjit Singh Chhabra, Director GGNIMT while expressing his gratitude to Chef Nellu Kaura, also advised the student chefs to be inspired by Chef Nellu’s credo of experimenting with different cuisines and at the same time minimizing food waste. He also congratulated the students for their initiative and also hoped that they would organize a festival of global cuisines to showcase their culinary skills. GGNIMT Principal Dr. Parvinder Singh congratulated the Head Prof. Shantimani, Chef Kaushal Gautam , Profs. Honey Chawla and Tavisha Mishra for motivating the students to create the ambience of different cultures and also preparing food from different states under a single banner, The Taste of India.
Many in the audience tasted Rajasthani Mirchi Vada, Mava Kachori or Kanji Vada for the first time. In addition to the Globally famous Veg and Chicken Biryani, the Hyderabadi Corner offered Double ka Tukda as dessert. The Tamil Traditional Cuisines offered were Chicken 65, Medu Vada and Mango Payasam for those with a sweet tooth. The Punjabi Cuisine of Tangri Kabab, Achari Paneer Tikka, Chole Kulche and the quintessential Lassi were much sought after by the guests. Devyani team lead for Hyderabadi cuisine felt that the festival helped them understand the concepts of costing and resource management. Vishal heading the Tamil cuisine team was happy to note that Punjabis relished Mango Payasam though they tasted it for the first time. Harshpreet welcomed the challenge of heading the Rajasthani cuisine, as most of the items had not been tried by the people earlier, but they asked for repeats. DharamPreet team leader for Punjabi cuisine, felt that as everyone had tasted Punjabi food, their challenge was to create excellence.