Ludhiana hosts ‘dhaba’ food festival

LUDHIANA - To popularize the traditional dhaba food, a hotel in Ludhiana recently organized a 12-day long event named ‘Dhaba Food Festival’.

Food aficionados visiting the festival held at Majestic Park Plaza hotel were greeted with over 70 different dishes of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine.

The festival provided the guests ambience with all the delicious ‘tandoori food’ that one gets at a ‘dhaba’.

To lend an authentic touch to the event the waiters were dressed in traditional costumes and the decor gave the diners a feel of a traditional ‘dhaba.’

“Our motto is that each and everybody who’s from Punjab should experience this food because this food is lost somewhere as of today. People are more diet conscious; people are going towards boiled food, so we are bringing it back with all the nutritive values of Punjabi food and it is healthy,” said Rajiv Sondhi, Food and Beverage Manager at the Majestic Park Plaza.

“Punjabis are known for their food basically worldwide, so that’s the reason why we basically decided that let’s have this Punjabi food back in the town,” he added.

For many years, the hotel has been hosting ‘foreign food festivals’, but this year they decided to hold ‘Dhaba Food Festival’ to popularize Punjabi food.

The decor and the food reflected the authenticity and ethnicity of the region.

Besides Tandoori Chicken, Dal Makhni, Tandoori naan and Lassi - there was much more on the menu that delighted Punjabis and the foreign guests.

The residents of the city, who usually have continental food, were surprised to find Punjab’s roadside food at the hotel.

They even invited their friends and relatives to sample ‘Dhaba’ food.

“Punjabis are proud of the specialty of their food. We are having a nice time with friends and really enjoying the meal. The ambience is nice and the food is very good. We have attended other food festivals in the past, but this is different because we get to see a glimpse of our Punjabi culture and we always crave for the Punjabi food,” said Kapil Dua, food aficionado.

Bindu, another food aficionado, said: “Dhaba food is the first choice of the Punjabis. If you compare it with the food from other regions, Punjabi food has its unique identity. Wherever you go, people crave for Punjabi food.” By Karan Kapoor (ANI)