Punjabi ghar ka khana (home-cooked food) is very different from how we perceive North Indian restaurant food to be. It does not really have tonnes of cream, artificial puree or rich ingredients that we often associate with it. Ghar ka khana is more about simple recipes, fresh spices and comfort food. And that is what you should expect, when you attend the Pind ka Khana food festival by Chef Sweety Singh at Spice Haat in Hyatt Regency, Chennai.
Chef Harjinder Singh aka Sweety Singh has been piloting Punjabi Food Festivals for two decades and hails from Punjab. The most striking part about his recipes is how they are free from high-fat cream or any artificial ingredients, colours, etc that often plague North Indian food at commercial eateries. He literally cooks what he was fed at home and believes in serving it with loads of love and care. His culinary delights has been served to renowned sports and Bollywood celebrities such as Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapoor, Dharmendra, Yuvraj Singh, Daler Mehndi to name a few.
The Pind ka Khana festival at Hyatt has a different menu for each day and when we visited on Sunday, we had an amazing spread of Rajma ki Dal, Aloo Wadiyan, Kadai Paneer, Dal Panjarangi, Matar wala Chawal, Saag Meat, Murg Tarri wala and Chicken Chawal. Each of these dishes stood out for simplicity, flavours and was completely free from any artificial ingredients. “Most North Indian places have a standard recipe for Punjabi gravies. Add tomato puree, high-fat cream and food colour and that becomes the base. I do not add any of these. I use fresh tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste and fresh spices I got from Amritsar. You can make out the difference,” says chef Sweety Singh. He was right, we could have the entire spread without ever feeling too full, a trademark of North Indian curries prepared at restaurants quite often.
The menu also has dishes like Paya Shorba, Bharwan Mushroom, Highway Tandoori Kukkad, Ajwani Jhinga, Langaewali Dal, Amritsari Meat, Gobi Meat, Sarson ka Saag and lots more to offer across the week.
Location: Spice Haat, Hyatt Regency, Teynampet
Date: Till March 31
