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Indian Food Flown to PM in Kuala Lumpur KUALA LUMPUR: Imagine a situation when one is 'pampered', with a capital P. Food flown in from across the country to a foreign destination. Food from five States. Cuisine at its best. That too by renowned chefs. This was done for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by the Indian embassy here on Sunday evening. He is here to attend the 13th Non-aligned Summit, a meet overshadowed by the crisis in Iraq. Chefs Jiggs Kalra and Marut Sikka were specially flown in to oversee the arrangements. Says Sikka, "Keeping in mind the weather here and in India, we had to adjust at a hectic pace and keeping in mind the Prime Minister's palate and a penchant for good food, we decided on concepts from five places - Awadh, Hyderabad, Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan." "These are traditional dishes which are very famous for their taste and preparation," he said. Commented one foreign visitor, "It's excellent, I love it, the variety and the taste," adding " I love Indian food." According to another person, whose ancestors are from India, "it's like being in India, like having home cooked food. It has got everything, from Kashmiri 'gostaba' to peeli dal (lentils) from Punjab. I feel that I am back in my country." Though the Malays are no strangers to Indian food, the sheer variety of the spread was a source of delight to many. "This is amazing, I never thought that Indian food was so varied, so many dishes!" said Melissa, a native. "Each dish from all the five States has been personally sampled by me before serving," declared Sikka. He added, "The effort was to make a veritable klaeidoscope of dishes and ingredients assembled from the kitchens across India to make it a memorable experience not only for the Prime Minister, but also everyone present." And for the Indian community present at the gathering, the Prime Minister's visit was an opportunity to sample, or rather gorge, the delicacies from back home.
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