Coal town residents will relish a wide range of delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian Bengali delicacies after a gap of two years as the 10-day Bengali Food Festival, Boishaki Mohabhoj is back at The Spread, a restaurant of Sonotel Hotel at Dhanbad.

All this as all preparations have been completed for the festival scheduled from April 15 to April 24 for which the restaurant has also been given a traditional Bengali look by carrying out some decorations.

Talking to The Telegraph Online today, Arka Ghosh, Deputy General Manager of Sonotel Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd said, “Majority of the items being prepared during the festival are not available in our regular menu. We have also included some items like Baked Rasogolla which were also not prepared during the earlier food festivals at our hotel.”

“We have our team of chefs from Calcutta who are well trained in cooking Bengali dishes. We have also made separate arrangements for cooking both Vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes” said Ghosh.

“Though people can come without booking as we have enough space at the restaurant, we would advise pre-booking for which people can call on the mobile number 9234423818, 9234423831 or mail at reservations@sonotelhotels.com,” said Ghosh and added that they have been organizing the festival every year during April for the last nine years.

“The visitors also need not worry much about the expenses as a family comprising of husband, wife and a child can enjoy the meal at the minimum rate of around Rs 1000,” said Ghosh and added that expense may rise depending on the orders made by the family as the highest priced dish is Katla Macher Kalia (Katla Fish simmered in tangy tomato gravy) for Rs 680.

“The list of vegetarian starters lined up for the festival includes Mochar Chop- small size croquette made of sweet Banana flower and dry fruits, Panir Karaisutir Chop-grated paneer with green peas crumb fried, and Jhur Jhure Aloo Bhaja-potato grated and deep fried in mustard oil,’ further said Ghosh.

The starters for non-vegetarian food include Gandhraj Chipsy Chicken-spicy crunchy fried chicken, Maurolla Macher Piyazi- Delicate Fish starter of Mourala fish and onion and Pur Bhora Pomfret Fry- stuffed pomfret coated with semolina and rice flour besides others.

Executive Chef of the Hotel Gora Chand Haldar said, “The main course for vegetarian food include Posto Borar Jhal-Bengali style poppy seed dumpling with chatapata gravy, Begun Basanti-baby brinjal with typical mustard dahi combination besides Mochar Ghonto-Melange of Banana florets, potato and Coconut.

The main course for non-veg food include Ilish Sorse Masala-Hilsa preparation in Bengali style, Katla Macher Kalia- Katla Fish with green tomato & coriander steam besides a dozen of other mouth-watering items.