First off, I would like to apologize to all of you sweethearts for not posting anything this past month. It's been a really hectic time for me. I know I should have posted more often, but I hope you guys can forgive me! I have been posting reviews on Zomato on and off this past month though. Check out my profile there (100+ Zomato followers now yay!)
And now, for the very delayed post about an amazing event that happened at the Lalit Hotels - the Grand Finale of The Culinary Challenge.
The culinary challenge is a platform where the Chefs from The Lalit, Mumbai are encouraged to come out of the cocoon and fly with their imagination to create something new, or something traditional.
The participants are free to create dishes which are Traditional, Contemporary, Fusion, or Classic. I was really excited to see what they would come up with. And I was pleasantly surprised with each course! The plating, the textures, and the taste (of whatever I could taste, being a vegetarian) - it was all so good.
First, the chefs.
And now, for the food.
The first course was called 'Seafood Delight', created by Chef Farooq Shaik. It was a cold seafood platter with so many different dorms, tastes, textures, and taste. And it was an absolute delight to look at.
Yes, that's a baby octopus! There's also lady fish, salmon ceviche, and prawn mousse. A closer look -
Those translucent balls, as well as the translucent sheet everything is placed on, is a tomato consommé sheet. Consommé is a very tricky thing to get right - and he did. The brown rocks that you see are actually dainty balls of bocconcini cheese coated with olive dust. It was superbly created. The presentation of this dish was really the most interesting of all.
Next up, we have the 'Mehfil-e-Murgh' consisting of four types of chicken variants; created by Chef Parmeshwaran.
Clockwise from top - Dhaniya-Pudina Murgh, Papad Murgh, Deconstructed Parda Murgh Biryani, and Murgh teh-pe-teh.
The Dhaniya-Pudina Murgh is essentially a herb crusted chicken roll. The chicken breast had a perfect texture and was very well cooked. It was served on a gravy with a tomato onion base that went well with the green chicken roll.
The Papad Murgh was created by dipping the chicken tikka balls into a papad mixture. I was quite surprised, having never encountered anything like this before. But the texture contrast of the murgh malai tikka and the papad was just beautiful.
Next up, the Deconstructed Parda Murgh Biryani.
That's a basket made of chicken juliennes held together by chicken mousse. I personally liked this one the best out of the four because it was so imaginative and superbly done. The basket is covered with a dainty golden roti.
And you take the roti off, and voila!
There's chicken flavored rice inside. Deconstruction, indeed!
The last of the four is the Murgh teh-pe-teh. This was a layered dish, with chicken mousse layers interspersed with one layer of khoa mixture and another of a potato-paneer mixture. Once it was all layered, it was coated in a cashew-cheese-cream mixture before being oven-baked. This was also a favorite and it was quite difficult to decide between this and the Deconstructed biryani.
Are you guys salivating yet? I thought so. There's more to come.
Our third course by Chef Rajendra was titled 'Sunahri Nalli with Akhbari Pulao & Mahi Bhatakali'.
This dish combines pomfret and mutton with a rich pulao. This is a treat for people who love seafood as much as they like their meats. With a creation like this, they won't have to choose. The fish had a lovely texture, and the gravy was well flavored and well seasoned.
Next up, the 'Lobster Thermidor with a molecular twist', created by Chef Rajan.
The lobster was cooked in a white sauce and deglazed with white wine. Gruyère and parmesan cheeses were added to the mix. The roses are actually made of deep fried potatoes that have been manually shaped.The lobster was accompanied by a porcini mushroom risotto, deconstructed feta cheese spheres, and mango caviar.You can see those more clearly in the next picture. 
To top off this already spectacular creation, it was flambéed right at the table! Spectacular, isn't it?
This is how it looked at the end, just as it was settling down.
This dish was enjoyed by everyone at the table. It was flavorful and made an impact. The last course, and most definitely not the least, dessert! Named 'Circle of Life' and created by Chef Heena Shah. It was a veritable wonderland. She chose to stick to two dominant flavors throughout. And it was amazing how much she experimented in that. Hence, we were treated to orange and rose mousse, orange panacotta, orange caviar (with a chili reduction!), orange parfait, macarons, and orange ice cream. The presentation was impeccable. Like the candied rose petals in such straight lines. It truly was a work of art. But then again, I am partial to desserts, so of course I am going to wax eloquent about it.
That wraps up the dishes! The winners, you ask?
It was difficult, let me tell you. All the dishes were so good that it was a trying task to choose. After much deliberation, here's who we picked!
First place went to the 'Mehfil-e-Murgh' consisting of four types of chicken variants; created by Chef Parmeshwaran.
Second place went to the dessert 'Circle of Life' created by Chef Heena Shah.
Here are the participants, with Executive Chef Aungshuman Chakraborty - just ouside Baluchi, at the Lalit Hotels, Mumbai. It is a fine dining restaurant which is known for Mughlai and North Indian cuisine. I had an amazing time at the Lalit that day. You can read my review of the 24/7 restaurant here, and to do justice to the awesome desserts, a separate dessert review.Writing about all this awesome stuff has made me quite hungry.
I'm off now, but do let me know which dishes you liked best in the comments below! Also, comment below or tweet at me if you want recipes of these dishes.
Photographer : satanssj 
