Eat 'rich' this Diwali

HAVE YOU EVER eaten money as part of your dessert? We did! To be honest, they were edible notes and coins but the coins were dusted with gold. This dish is a duet of Zafrani daulat ki chaat and elaneer payasam. Daulat means wealth in Hindi and Urdu and no wonder, 'wealth' came along with the dish. After all, Diwali is considered an auspicious time to welcome wealth, right? Diwali is a festival of lights, money, indulgence, rich food and being with your family.
We tried the Diwali menu at Ashiana, Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers, Deira. As a lover of raw food, I was delighted when we were served beetroot, yoghurt and mango chutney with poppadums. But alas, apart from regular salad, these were the only raw items that I could find.
But come on, Diwali is a festival to indulge yourself with rich (high calorie) food, right? So I ignored all the usual preferences and decided to let the chef surprise us with his skills. And pleasantly surprised, we were.
After having some of the most refreshing mocktails that we have ever tasted, we dived straight into the platter of pre-starters that consisted of bite-sized vada and open kachori with pineapple and strawberry shooters.
The starters plate included chutney chicken tikka, bharwan seekh kabab, achari jheenga, paneer tikka, khumbi galouti and vegetable samosa. Even though we ate everything in little quantities,we were almost full at this point. But the sight of Rajasthan's famous dish laal maas inspired us to jump onto the main course. Also, the mango sorbet helped as a palate cleanser. While I enjoyed every bit of the laal maas, my sister, who accompanied me and is also a lover of Rajasthani food, was expecting the dish to be much spicier. However, we were floored by the silky, creamy and super delicious machli taar korma. The fish curry made with coconut cream and many other mysterious ingredients.
The biryani rice was another big win. The aroma was like a meditation. Also, full of great taste, flavour and lots of butter, just the way we like it.
There was also safeed murgh makhani, pind de chole, soya rarha bharta, paneer makhanwala and assorted indian bread to go along with the dishes.
There will be live music playing at the restaurant on Diwali nights. A perfect place to treat your family this Diwali. arti@khaleejtimes.com
DETAILS
The Diwali Menu is available from October 28- 30, priced at Dhs139 per person.