Discovering desserts from royal kingdoms: The Pavilion, ITC Maurya

One of the reasons that I love ITC Maurya so much is the amount of effort they put behind bringing India’a traditional cuisines to the fore. Part of ITC Hotels’ ‘Responsible Luxury’ ethos, ITC Maurya showcases undiscovered royal aspects of Indian culinary heritage. Although I have been to quite of their regional food festivals including the Kashmiri menu and the Benaras Food Festival, this time they have even outdone themselves. “Royal Kitchens” is showcasing food from seven different royal kingdoms over the course of ten weeks. It is very well known that the princely states of pre-Independence era had some of the best cooks in the country and many of their recipes have been kept as family secrets. But this food festival is going to unleash all these royal secrets upon us common folk.

Check out the Kashmiri menu which is part of the buffet at The Pavilion

The Seven kingdoms that came together included Akheraj and Bhainsrogarh in Rajasthan, Sailana from Madhya Pradesh, Rampur from Uttar Pradesh, Kangra from Himachal Pradesh, Dogra from Kashmir and Salar Jung from Hyderabad. As the event was being launched, the plethora of dishes created a conundrum for me. As there were more than 100 dishes from the seven kingdoms, I decided to stick to the Kebabs and the sweet dishes. Being a Bengali, I tend to love my sweet dishes and I am going to tell you about the various sweet dishes that you should try along with other delicacies from the seven kingdoms.

The Royal Kangra Dynasty is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world and traces it’s history back to nearly 3500 years. Although I fell in love with Palda which a curry for rice and the stellar use of the humble pulses, the Meethe Chawal and Mithdee impressed me the most. I fell in love with the granular Meethe Chawal which presents my favourite, rice in a sweet way. Another kingdom which is very near to Delhi is Rampur. The Adrak ka Halwa (Ginger Halwa) holds precedence here. There is also a Gulethi which brings out the best of apricots.

Kheer is one of my favourite delicacies and the addition of rose to it makes for a wonderful addition. The Gulab Kheer from the Sailana Succession is something that you must try out. Another Kheer that leaves a delectable mark of my palate is the Biyan Ki Kheer from Bhainsrogarh which is under the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. It is very similar to the Shimuyir Payesh which is made out of vermicelli by my mother. But the one dessert that totally blew me away was from the Salar Jung kingdom, a noble family under the aegis of the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Halwa-E-Lehm presents lamb in the form of a sweet dish and it is one of the most innovative dishes in a line up that boasts of secret recipes from all over the country.

Chef Akshraj Jodha, whose food I had gushed over at WelcomHotel Jodhpur represents Akheraj Deolia. The Akheraj Kingdom lies between the kingdom of Mewar and Marwar and the food here is representative of both the kingdoms. Executive Chef Jodha is the 14th generation of Rao Akheraj, the grandson of Rao Chandrasen of Jodhpur. He displays some of the best from his kingdom in the form of Hara Maans, Makki Maans Soyeta and Matki Maans. I also enjoyed a few tit bits from the Wazwaan of Kashmir.