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Dilli honours the traditional roots of Indian food

18/12/2007

Altrincham’s award-winning Dilli restaurant is offering a New Year invitation to sample India's original vegetarian cuisine from its new menu.

Dilli reclaimed India’s vegetarian roots by winning this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival award as the best provider for vegetarians.

Now, chef director Ravi Bajaj is extending the discount that it normally offers only to Vegetarian Society members.

During January the prices of all vegetarian dishes will drop by 15 per cent on food only – "as a way of tempting meat eaters to try alternative dishes that they may not normally consider," says Ravi, himself an internationally experienced chef.

"Cooking with vegetables is more challenging than meat because their natural taste is less pronounced," he explains.

"Meat has a more definite flavour because of the fat and bone marrow so the preparation of vegetarian dishes needs to compensate by preserving as much taste, colour and freshness as possible.

"And eating vegetables has much to do with maintaining the body’s natural balance, nutritional needs and overall health. Without a strong commitment to vegetarian food it would not be possible for us to recreate the traditional regional specialities for which Dilli has become famous. Our dishes are not the usual westernised versions of Indian food … they are the real thing."

Dilli’s vegetarian award is the latest success for a restaurant that attracted national press praise, as well as a Michelin rating, within its first 18 months. And it came only days after national newspaper The Times had listed it at the head of its top UK Indian eating places.

For more information on Dilli – the original name for India’s capital city New Delhi - visit www.dilli.co.uk