A veg food festival for the foodies in Lucknow

Lucknow, which is famous for its non- vegetarian food, experienced a zara hat ke food festival recently. In a first-of-its-kind event, Club 90's, a group of students belonging to Lucknow but pursuing graduation in other cities, organised a two-day vegetarian food festival called The Grub Hub. Held at the Sangeet Natak Academy, the festival had cooking competitions, band performances and newbies displaying their culinary skills during the event.The highlight of the event was that most of the stalls put up at the event were of aspiring restaurateurs and amateur cooks who impressed visitors with their innovative and new dishes and their unique presentation.
Inaugurated by politico Juhie Singh, the first day of the event saw a Food Fight cooking competition, apart from other activities.
(L-R) Vikas, Sarvagya, Kratika, Tanya, Nikita and Binish, a few of the organisers celebrated the success of their event by dancing (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Cooking Indian, Italian, Chinese dishes, a total of 37 participants showcased their culinary skills on day 1. While Khushboo Vaish, a participant on MasterChef season 2 and 3, made a Rose Shake and Pani Puri in different fruit flavours, Shreya Sai, a 24-year old presented her dish of a Focacia and vegetable cigars beautifully that impressed the judge Nagendra Singh, an executive chef at a city five-star hotel, thoroughly. The final round of the competition was conducted on the concluding day in which Pooja Sachan, who came all the way from Kanpur to participate in the fest, was declared the winner in the senior category for her Baked Khandvi and Cottage Cheese Rolls. Shreya Sai and her team won the food fight in the junior category.
(L) Amritansh Chaturvedi (R) Aqsa Hashmi (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
The unique food cum cultural festival is the brainchild of Amritansh Chaturvedi and his friends, all born in the 1990s. "All 26 of us in the group are vegetarians so we planned to organise a vegetarian food fest," says Amritansh, adding, "As we were all in Lucknow for vacations these days, we thought of introducing new vegetarian dishes to Lucknowites and to let them know that food is not just limited to non- vegetarian."
Juhie Singh, chairperson of the UP Child Rights Commission, who was the chief guest at the fest, was excited at the concept of the event and said, "Awadhi cuisine has a very rich menu of vegetarian dishes which we are not familiar with. The new concept brought by these youngsters of the city has made us aware of our hidden culture, that too with an interesting dash of entertainment," shared Singh.
The two-day festival witnessed a host of visitors who loved the new and innovative dishes available at the fest like Baked Italian Fusion, Ghevar cake, Fruit Tacos, Corn Seekh kebabas, Coco-melon Cooler, Paneer Qorma, Pizza Batasha and Cone Pizza, among others.
(L) Arushi (R) Youngsters at a food stall (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
The scavenger hunt also saw a huge participation, even as people grooved to songs belted out by several bands that performed at the festival on both days. A flash mob performances also added more fun to the fest. The best part of it was when one of the group member's grand father joined in the dance.
By Adnaan Rizvi and Prachi Arya
(L) Aynab, Aadhya and Kashish (R) Juhie Singh enjoying the food at the festival (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Diabolical Damage performed at the fest (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
An amateur cook serving his guest (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
A home-cook serving veg biryani in an innovative way (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
(L) Kadabri and Samagya (R) Loya and Vidushi (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
(L) Karan Lakhmani (R) Paridhi and Sameer (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
(L) Priya and Moniza (R) Yashab Abbas (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Shaswat and Ubaid (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)