Punjabi spice for Scottish guests

Cricketers from Scotland had a gala time as they gorged on authentic Punjabi dishes at the dinner hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner, Chandigarh, David Lelliott

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Manika Ahuja

It's time for the Scotland cricketers to gorge on the popular Punjabi ‘missi roti’, 'tandoori chicken tikka' and desserts like hot ‘gulab jamun.’

The entire team led by skipper Preston Mommsen has fallen for Punjabi food ever since they arrived here for two-day practice before they take on Netherlands in their World Twenty20 campaign at Mohali on Sunday.

"Captain Preston Mommsen and his teammates loved the tandoori chicken tikka and missi roti. They took a number of servings and praised these items,” said Rajkumar Raju, catering manager at the dinner reception hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner Chandigarh, David Lelliott. Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh, Vijay Dev, was the Chief Guest for the occasion and cricketers were the special guests.

Elite at dinner

The reception was attended by top-shots from the world of business, academia, media and civil society, including Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Advisor to the Chief Minister, Punjab, Lord Diljit Rana MBE, Mridula Jain, managing director, Shingora Textiles, Neelam Mansingh, theatre artist, Diwan Manna, artist, and Pradeep Singh, CEO & Deputy Dean, Indian School of Business, Mohali.

Angoori rasmalai rocks

Other than the chicken tikka, the players developed an instant liking for ‘Mushroom Achari Tikka’ as well as ‘Angoori Rasmalai’and found the name of the cuisine interesting. Some players liked yellow and black tadka daal, baingan ka bhurtha and palak paneer.

Executive chef at Hotel JW Marriott Naveen Handa says, “Players have taken a liking for North-Indian food, which is high in proteins and good in nutrients.”

In & around

David Lelliott, who raised a toast in the Queen’s honour, shared, “The team members are really excited and thrilled to be here. Some of them expressed a desire to visit the Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake and other popular places of the city. While the others claimed they had heard a lot about City Beautiful and found it all true.”