Unique Recipes Curated by Chefs this Festive Season

Navratra bowl at SodaBottleOpenerWala

SodaBottleOpenerWala, the quintessential Bombay-Irani Café and bar with all its idiosyncrasies in place, brings to you a special Navratra Bowl, to make your fasting days delicious. The concept is to eat Satvik, have millets, gluten-free healthy and delicious bowl.  Keeping in mind the strict food regimen and avoiding the use of select ingredients, the bowl has been curated to make your fasting days scrumptious yet healthy. The special Navratra Bowl consists of Sabudana Khichdi, Sukhi Masala Arbi, Aloo ki Sabzi, Vrat Ka Pulav, Cucumber and mint salad with Masala Makhana, Raw banana chips, and Pomegranate Raita.

Full couse thali at GR's Searock Cookhouse

Celebrate the homecoming of Goddess Durga this Navratri festival with this full-course Thali. It consists of special Navratra delicacies with a GR's Searock Cookhouse touch of bringing a bit of coastal experience with it. Sabudana Wade,

Shakarkandi & Roasted Coconut Chaat, Sabudana Makhane Kheer with Coconut & Dry Fruits and

Palm Jaggery Halwa from Tamilnadu are some of the dishes they have in their Navratri menu.

Navratra feast at Cafe Delhi Heights

Along with other devouring treats, here you can enjoy special Phalahari Kheer from UP too. Citrus Delights (combination of freshly squeezed oranges and lime, perfectly balanced with brown sugar), Joyous One by One, (a salad with green apples, cucumbers and tomatoes), Aloo chat, Sabudana Khichadi, Kuttu Ki Roti, and Pina Raita (creamy yoghurt with pineapple chunks) are some of the dishes they are serving.

 Chef Ashish Singh at Café Delhi Heights says, “People today look for something extra in terms of taste and variety when they go out during Navratri festival week. Café’s Thali is a perfect balance of innovation and classic flavours providing a complete meal. From Sabudana Khichdi that is eaten in Maharashtra to Aloo Chaat, a speciality from Rajasthan. We are also serving Phalahari Kheer from UP along with more devouring treats.”

Authentic festive meal at Pirates of Grill

Pirates of Grill is presenting the special Navratri Thali, where you can enjoy your Vrat food from starters like  Chips ki Chaat, Sabudana Papad, Kuttu ka Paneer Tikka, Samak ke Chawal ka Uttapam with Paneer, BhurjiChaulai ke Ladoo , and Sabudane ke Cutlet. The main course is a lavish luxe spread of Paneer Makhani,Vrat ke Dahi Aloo, Kuttu ki Poori, Kadhi Pakoda and Samak Rice Khichdi. The wholesome meal finishes strong with desserts like chilled fruit cream, mouth-watering Samak ke Chawaland rich Makhane ki Kheer.

Inderjeet Banga, founder of Pirates of Grill says, “Offering a one-of-its-kind wholesome meal at Pirates of Grill, we make sure Navratri fasters get to experience a feast never eaten before. With fresh ingredients, authentic flavours and aromatic spices we offer a spread that is lavish and a delight for all foodies.”  He further adds “Keeping the religious sentiments of people in mind, we also make sure to serve all this from different counter, colours of plates are marked vegetarian and we follow the complete fasting facts.”

A contemporary twist at Sawd Desh Videsh Ka

If you’re bored of your average Navratri food, then head to Swad for a lavish feast comprising of satiating dishes like crispy Aloo Palak ke Kuttu ke Pakode, tangy Shakarkandi ki Chaat and Singade ke Dahi Bhalle with a super exotic Food Platter.

Arbi ki Galouti with Anjeer ki Chutney, Haryali Paneer Tikka, Kache kele ke Kebabs to Soft and succulent Kandhari Dahi ke Kebabs are the dishes they have in starters. In main course they are offering Ajwaini Sitaphal, Vrat ki Kadhi, Rassedar Aloo, Kaju Machana along with some Sabudana Papad, Banana Chips, Sabudana Khichdi, Samak ke Chawal and Kuttu Poori. End the wholesome meal with chilled Makhane ki Kheer, Soft Sitaphal ka Ghiya and Swad Mithai Sampler.

Dinesh Arora, owner Swad Desh Videsh Ka adds “We always try to give our Navratri Menu the best possible contemporary makeover. With these lip smacking delicacies we make sure the offerings during the festival are a treat for all.”

24x7 thali at Imperfecto Shor Cafe

Fasting for Navratri and getting hungry at odd hours is not uncommon. Head to Imperfecto Shor Cafe to satisfy your hunger pangs. It is open 24x7; dishes such as Aloo Tamatar ki Sabzi, Sabudana ki Khichdi, Kuttu ki Roti, Cucumber Raita is available and to end on the sweetest note there is Samak ki Kheer.  

How do you go about designing your menu?

We work hard to ensure our menus are balanced every day. Seven key parameters are considered in designing our daily menus, including veg/non veg mix, Indian and international foods spread, pricing range, dish types etc.

It is important that our customers who have diverse food preferences have their needs met. One of the advantages MealTango has over the conventional restaurant is the fact that all the foods are made by experts in their own right. So, we aren't limited by one head-chef and his range of expertise. We have a large number of home chefs each exhibiting their strong suite of skills.

What are the new recipes you have developed over a period of time?

The great thing about MealTango is that we are constantly unearthing a wide range of dishes customers have never experienced before. For example, we were the first ones to make 'Pathare Prabhu' cuisine available to the masses. The Pathare Prabhus are the original inhabitants of Mumbai and only 6,000 or so are in existence and their cuisine even includes unique European influences like quiches and pies.

We also have brought to the fore, authentic Anglo Indian fare, South African dishes like the Bunny Chow and Sosaties and many other unique dishes people may not have experienced before. At the same time, 'ghar ka khana' is ever present on our menu, so if you aren't the food adventurer and yearn for authentic homemade food, you can get that every day from MealTango.

What are the challenges you face at the time when you get numerous orders?

We pride ourselves on our USP that our food is NOT bulk produced, is preservative-free and never older than a day. Our home chefs are never pushed to produce food in large quantities, beyond the numbers they are comfortable with.

Therefore, due to extreme surges in demand, just like in restaurants have waiting, we have stock outs. However, we are constantly adding talented home chefs to our network and will be able to serve very large number of customers.

How do you decide the pricing of the menu? What are the elements you keep in mind?

One of our key values at MealTango is that our home chefs should receive handsome remuneration. We believe this means that people are enjoying their food and recommending it to their friends. It also serves as solid validation that our model is working.  For this reason, we have a very transparent pricing model that rewards our home chefs for their efforts. In fact, our home chefs make the lion’s share of revenue on each sale. Our model accounts for fluctuations in ingredient prices, and desire for bulk discounts from our consumers, while keeping our home chefs' interests in place.

Do you see any threat from your competitors?

When others see success, competition in any sector is a natural phenomenon. We welcome competition, as it helps bring in efficiencies in the market and keeps us on our toes. Another one of our key values is customer delight. I believe more competition will establish the home chef market, and give customers more confidence in making healthy food choices.

We believe that our focus on customer delight will be our key differentiator. We keep our eye on growth and are intent on achieving sustained 50 per cent plus growth month on month (we are currently hitting almost 100 per cent growth MoM).

Meal Tango arranges festival-based experiences or cooking workshops. How does this help your website in return?

These are excellent opportunities for prospective customers to try MealTango food in a friendly arena and have fun! It's also a good touch point for us to interact with our customers. After all, great food and great times go together.

What is your expansion plan in terms of numbers of outlet and cities?

We are looking at expanding to 100 plus delivery hubs across all metros within the current financial year.

How do food sites help to attract investors and customers?

Yes, we are very attractive to both - investors and customers. In fact, we are looking for full time staff to work with investors due to a large amount of interest in MealTango.

In terms of customers too - all our marketing is done through word of mouth, at present. Our marketing budget is less than the average family bill at a restaurant! Even with this minimal marketing spend; we are seeing almost 100 plus MoM growth.