Pak kebab routs tandoori chicken

Chandigarh dishes out Peshawar, Lahore delicacies to give culinary delights to tourists

The city seems to have traded its trademark delicacy tandoori chicken for the Peshawari platter apparently to make Pakistani fans, thronging the city for tomorrow's semifinal fixture, feel at home.


A counter offering Pakistani delicacies in Chandigarh.

Fiery frontier curries and kebabs have replaced popular dal tadka and aloo parathas from the menu of eateries and restaurants across the city, literally making room for the current flavour of the cricketing season cross-border brotherhood.

"We have introduced fusion dishes such as Sialkot-style chhole bhature and Peshawari paneer parathas," says Sumant Marwah, owner of the popular Pind di Shaan restaurant.

"We are getting overwhelming response from Pakistani tourists who have been thronging our outlet for the past few days.

Most of them appreciated our initiative and said that it would bring identical-but-estranged cultures together," he added.

A hotel located in Sector 22, The Aroma, has opened a separate counter named Lahore Chowk, offering Pakistani food.

Moreover, the hotel yesterday started a two-day biryani festival.
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"We started this counter especially keeping in mind the Pakistani guests, but the response from the home crowd is also overwhelming," said Manmohan Singh, owner of the hotel.

Pakistani cricket fans are pleased with the double treat in store for them.
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"Pakistani and Punjabi cuisines are quite similar, but it's nice to see that the Indian kitchen cares for our tastes," says Faiz Hashim, a 26-year-old management professional from Karachi.

When fans are relishing Pakistani delicacies, how can cricketers be devoid of this gastronomic bliss? Men in blue and green too are gorging on Pakistani food being served at Hotel Taj, where both the teams are lodged.

"Peshawari Chicken Tikka is a great hit with many players of both the teams.
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They are relishing it," said executive chef, Neeraj Chaudhry, adding that the mutton and chicken biryani, too, is a hot favourite among the players.