From chaat to paniyarayam: how hotels in Delhi give G20 delegates the taste of India

Taj Palace, JW Marriott & Leela Palace in New Delhi prep 500 dishes for G20 Summit, featuring thalis, street food & millet-based desserts to represent India's culinary landscape & cater to delegates' taste & security expectations.

As a country that has flavours and dishes that change every 50 kilometres, it is not possible to represent India through one, two or even a handful of dishes. This is why the 120-chef team at the Taj Palace in New Delhi is preparing around 500 dishes for the G20 summit scheduled to take place in the national capital this weekend. 

“We have been planning the dishes and testing them daily over the last three months. We are hoping to cover the whole country’s culinary landscape through our special menu,” says Chef Surendra Negi from Taj Palace, New Delhi.

The Taj’s menu is set to feature thalis from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra with 12 dishes in each platter, while the menu for the high tea would feature street food from across the country including chaat from Delhi, pav bhaji from Maharashtra and paniyaaram from Tamil Nadu.

“We have tried our best to make sure the flavours are authentic and have gone the extra mile to source ingredients from the respective regions as well. To make dhokla for example, the special besan we use has come all the way from Gujarat,” adds Chef Surendra. 

From sourcing ingredients across regions to catering to the taste and security expectations of each country’s delegation, the hotels selected as venues for the 18th edition of the global summit have been in prep mode since the day of announcement. “We are also training our chefs manning our live counters to educate the delegates on the dishes they choose,” assures Anuraag Narsingani, culinary director of JW Marriott, New Delhi. 

Chef Anuraag and his team of 60- plus chefs have chosen to prepare the most popular dishes from every region. “We will be serving 170 dishes every day. This includes laas maas, rogan josh, Pindi chole, chicken Kholapuri, chicken Chettinad and many other famous items. There will be an Indian chicken curry, Indian lamb curry, Indian fish curry every day but the actual dish will change every day” he says. 

Efforts are also being taken to prepare dishes keeping in mind the spice tolerance of the delegates. “We have options like safed murgh biryani that will not be spicy but we won’t be making a bland chicken Kholapuri,” he adds.