Indian Food Festival 2017
By Matthew Fennell, Contributing Writer
March 2017 - As Korea becomes ever more multicultural, Seoul is developing into a city brimming with different cuisines from around the world. Food and food culture is something we are very big on at Asia Society Korea and we were delighted to have been invited to the 2017 Indian Food Festival hosted by the Embassy of India. H.E. Vikram Doraiswami, Indian Ambassador to Korea and Asia Society member, opened the dinner with comments about the richness and diversity of Indian cuisine and how he hopes its popularity will continue to grow here in Korea. The festival showcased various dishes from different parts of India prepared by renowned Indian chef Mr. Machinda Kasture.
Chef Kasture is the executive Chef at The Ashok, New Delhi and flew to Seoul especially for the event. Amongst other dishes, his menu included beef vindaloo, a hotter version of the standard curry and popular in the region of Goa; dal makhana, originating in Punjab and prepared using whole black lentil, red kidney beans, butter, and cream; and gulnar/tomato pudina biryani, a mixed rice dish originated from the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent and generally made with spices, rice, and meat. Those attending the Indian Food Festival join a select list of diners as Chef Kasture has previously cooked for Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and former UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon. His outstanding culinary career also includes 8 years as the Executive Chef to the President of India.