Don’t be misled by the title – the Rajasthani Food Festival at Coriander Leaf is not about Dal, Bati and Churma only. In fact, the Rajasthani food menu is made up of an elaborate menu – a lot bigger than you see at most food festivals.

We (me and Kanchan) arrived at Coriander Leaf relatively early on a quiet Tuesday evening – there wasn’t much of a crowd at 7:30pm. The sound of water and numerous earthen lamps at the doorstep greeted us as we entered the very popular restaurant. Mr Bimal Pal, Manager at Coriander Leaf greeted us at the entrance.

The restaurant has dim lighting and a quiet atmosphere, which sometimes get quite noisy on weekends due to a lot of big fat family dinners with a lot of children. We were seated on a table which is really close to my heart (the same table where I proposed to my wife Kanchan around 3 years ago!).

We had a long chat with Bimal and he told us a lot about himself, the chef, Coriander Leaf and the Vatika Group. Did you know that he joined Vatika as a bartender in the restaurant Fox (First India Place). That was 5 years ago – he has since then moved up the ladder and now manages Coriander Leaf. This was quite a surprise in an industry otherwise ridden by attrition and frequent job hopping. I recently met a restaurant manager at a social gathering who had changed jobs three times in the last year – I don’t like him .

Did you also know that the Vatika Group is coming up with two new restaurants. Bimal was kind enough to share the location, the names and the cuisine of the restaurants – but asked me to not to disclose it. I will quietly keep it under wraps. But people, there is quite a lot of good stuff coming your way.

Back to the Rajasthani festival! This one is the brainchild of the corporate chef of the Vatika Group, Mr Krishna Reddy. He thought of this around a month ago – since then, his whole team has been working hard to research Rajasthani cuisine and make every effort to recreate the most authentic Rajasthani culinary experience Delhi NCR has on offer. Also, did you know that Vatika also invites a special guest chef whenever they organize a food festival. That was true for the Goan and the Parantha food festival held at the Coriander leaf within the last year.

The menu as I told you, is quite elaborate. I won’t get into the details of the menu, you can check the full menu in the images below.

From this menu, we tried Bhutta ke Kebab (a traditional rajasthani kebab), Dhai ki Shami (traditional rajasthani hung curd kebab), Jaipuri Sheek (skewered lamb mince with spices and char grilled in clay oven), Maas ka Soola (spiced lamb cubes), Ker Sangari (a traditional rajasthani dish of dry beans cooked with mango powder and curd), Gatte ka Saag (cooked gram flour dumplings prepared with curd base mild gravy), Murgh ka Mukul (boneless pieces of chicken cooked in almond and saffron base mild gravy), Lal Maans (lamb preparation in rajasthani spices) and of course the Jodhpuri Pulao, Dal Bati along with Makki and Bajre ki Roti.

From a vast variety of what we were served, we really liked the Maas ka Soola, Ker Sangari (something unique and different!) and Murgh ka Mukul (the gravy was creamy, delicious and made me eat more and more of it). The Lal Maans was also very good – it could have been more spicy (though Bimal mentioned that he had intentionally kept it less spicy for me – he said that I didn’t look like a person who would like spicy food. In fact, I am completely the opposite).

We topped everything with Hare Mattar ka Jhanjharia (did you know that you can make a dessert out of green peas) and Apple Jalebi. I didn’t like the Hare Mattar ka Jhanjharia (which is actually grated peas fried in ghee – or at least something of the sort), but that can be attributed to my dislike for peas. Kanchan who likes peas, didn’t think it was too bad. So, if you are really feeling experimental go ahead. Otherwise, stick to the apple jalebi which most of you will surely like! It is actually apple dipped in jalebi mix and then fried like an good old jalebi. It was good – although I would have really taken the peel off the apple (the peel made it very difficult to break the jalebi into pieces!).

Coriander Leaf will also have Jaipuri music for you during the festival to give you a complete experience. Hop over on the weekend (weeknights more apt for a romantic date) and enjoy unsurpassed Vatika hospitality along with amazing food (with or without the festival menu!). AND – do not forget to make reservations at 0124-4062121, 4063131.

The festival continues until the end of this month (Nov, 09).

- Deepinder

Overall rating: 4.0/5

PS: To check the full regular menu of Coriander Leaf, please visit: http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurant/gurgaon/coriander-leaf-mg-road-2144.html