He may not have got a dish named after him yet at ITC Maurya. But the Obama platter is sure to make an appearance on the luxury hotel’s food menu where Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the US, will stay during the Delhi-leg of his India visit.
The dish which will be named after Mr Obama, who landed in Mumbai along with wife Michelle, may still be in the works. But the grand presidential suite, “The Chanakya”, in the capital’s ITC Maurya is all spruced up to host the presidential couple when they land in Delhi on Sunday.
During former US President Bill Clinton’s stay, the hotel’s flagship eatery, Bukhara had hogged the limelight. “There are three platters, Obama can choose from,” a top hotel executive said. With hope, the staffers and the hotel chefs would keep the feedback book open.
The President can even feast on a dish named after his secretary of state Hillary Clinton, when she was the US First Lady with husband Bill Clinton occupying the White House as the 42nd US President.
Then there’s the Chelsea platter, named after the Clintons’ daughter who came visiting India as a teenager during her father’s presidency. In keeping with Chelsea’s vegan preferences — vegan dishes are not simply vegetarian dishes; rather, they are dishes that do not contain ingredients obtained from animals like milk, butter, cheese — the hotel also offers a vegetarian platter. The Chelsea platter has paneer tikka and capsicum tandoori as part of its offering. And then, of course, there’s the President’s platter. One that has a range of dishes ranging from Sikandari raan to murg malai kebab. Of course, after Hillary and Chelsea, Maurya wants to name a platter after Mr Obama. So its famous dal bukhara, the prime cut meats marinated for 24 hours with malt vinegar could become the Obama platter, a staffer said.
Though Muarya’s team of chefs is busy fine-tuning the platters, the White House has also flown in its own chefs to prepare dishes for the presidential palate. A team of chefs would be preparing dishes for the President and his wife in the kitchen which is part of the presidential suite, said a hotel staffer.