On Saturday, The1st Nov, I was invited at JW Marriot for the Tangra Food Festival. Tangra is a region in east Kolkata that traditionally housed a large number of tanneries owned by people of Hakka Chinese origin. Food from Tangra is a distinct variety of traditional Hakka Chinese cuisine adapted to Indian ingredients and the Bengali palate. This has spread to the rest of India, along with the recipes earlier unique to Tangra. Tangra is now the most popular destination for Chinese food. Chinese food sold in Tangra restaurants are now known all over the world as ‘Hakka Style” Chinese food. Source: Wiki
 The word Indian-Chinese is so much exploited, there is nothing called Indian-Chinese, but it is Kolkata-Chinese.If you go to China, you will never even find Manchurian. They don’t even know what Manchurian is. It was all invented in the Tangra region. Centuries ago, the Chinese immigrants from the Hakka region settled down in Kolkata and took the shape of cuisine in itself. JW Kitchen at JW Marriot brings this Indian adaptation of street Chinese food to Bengaluru with its first ever food festival – The Tangra Food Festival.The ten day long food festival that began on October 31 aims to recreate a complete experience of Kolkata Chinatown and showcase the best of Kolkata Chinese.
 Having learnt the secret of what makes Tangra food so popular, Chef Surjan Singh Jolly along with his team will present to you at this festival a perfect mixture of the aromas, flavor and vibrancy of this region of Kolkata. With interactive live cooking and a Kolkata Chinatown set-up, this irresistible food feast is sure to delight all the food aficionados in the city!
A masterclass was held by Chef Jolly Singh, Director F & B and Chef Edwin Lou. Chef Edwin Lou is the guest chef for Tangra food festival at JW Marriot and makes the best Kolkatta Chinese in the world. Chef Jolly Singh and his team went to the Tangra region to understand the cuisine and they found out about the perfect mixture of aromas, flavour and vibrancy of this region to be the key secret behind what makes this Tangra food so popular.
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| Thread Paneer At Live Cooking Session |
During the masterclass Chef Edwin demonstrated the recipe of Thread Paneer, Golden Fried Prawns and Hakka Chinese Chicken. We tasted everything that the chef made and it was the authentic Tangra taste neither too spicy nor sweet.
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| Golden Fried Prawns |
During this time an interesting Spiced mango Mocktail was served to all of us. It contained a blend of Mango nectar, jalapenos, olives and lime. Every sip of this spicy mocktail made me want more.The Tangra food festival also showcases a special Chinese Cocktail and Mocktail menu featuring drinks like the Shandong Mary, Beijing Bellini, Red Lotus and the Mango Spice Cocktail.
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| Spiced Mango |
Following the live cooking session, the kitchen was open for dinner. But we all went to see how they make these Tangra Mocktails at the Mocktail Counter. The bartender demonstrated the method of making Shandong Mary, which is a Tangra Cocktail.
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| Shandong Mary Cocktail |
Followed by this we went for dinner buffet. The Tangra dinner is an addition to the normal dinner buffet. For starters we were served with Golden Fried Prawns, Thread Betki Fish, Golden Fried Babycorn and Thread Paneer. Clearly the Golden Fried Prawns were a winner. Crispy outside, soft and juicy inside. Thread Paneer coated by wanton was crispy and is a must try.
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| As Jolly as his name is – Chef Jolly Singh tasting the Golden Fried Prawns |
I ordered the Pomegranate and Passion Fruit Mocktail. It was perfect in all sense and all the ingredients i.e. Pomegranate, Passion Fruit Puree and Basil leaves gelled well. Just loved the tangy taste of it.
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| Pom And Passion Mocktail |
At the buffet Dimsum – Pork Sui Mai and Vegetable Momo were present. These should be had with the Tangra dips for a better taste. I also tried the Egg Noodles and Egg Fried Rice. The Egg Fried Rice had a perfect mixture of aromas and burnt garlic flavour. I did not try the veg fried rice and veg noodles as I preferred the non-veg.
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| Egg Fried Rice, Momo’s And Golden Fried Betki Fish |
For Main Course we had Oyster Sauce Chicken, Hot Garlic Fish (Kolkatta Betki Fish with hot chili sauce), Chili Pork, Chili Paneer and Assorted Vegetables with Tofu and mushroom babycorn.
The Hot Garlic Fish made me go for a second serving just because of the hot chili sauce. I did not eat Pork so I cannot comment on it.
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| Hakka Chicken |
There was no dessert in the Tangra Food Festival. So we tried few of the desserts from the regular food buffet. You can try the food from the regular food buffet too. I fell for the lychee ice-cream and dark chocolate pudding.
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| Ambiance At JW Kitchen |
The food festival is on till November 9 and is priced at Rs 1599+ taxes for the food buffet.
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