JJ IN DA HOUSE: Deepavali Gala Dinner @ Hotel Equatorial Penang

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Deepavali Gala Dinner @ Hotel Equatorial Penang

Some 200 guests have recently gathered for the very first Deepavali Gala Dinner in Penang at the Hotel Equatorial Penang. This gala dinner was held in conjunction with the Deepavali celebrations with our Hindu friends, many VIPs were invited to attend the event and enjoy the lavish buffet and eye opening performances prepared by the hotel.

It is a sold out event that seats were pretty limited. We were very lucky to be invited to attend and experience this very special event organized by Hotel Equatorial Penang and get to taste some pretty authentic Indian cuisine specially prepared by world reowned celebrity chef Mujeeb-ur Rehman that flew all the way from India to Penang just to cook for this event.

A group picture with the colourful Kolam prepared for the event.

*Special thanks to Hotel Equatorial Penang for extending the invitation*

We were also glad to have a picture with Celebrity Chef, Chef Mujeeb-ur Rehman before the event begins. He was really friendly and down to earth, someone who is ready to share everything with you and quite chatty too.

The night started with short introduction about Chef Mujeeb-ur Rehman and then he also did a short presentation about the authentic Indian cuisine that he is bringing to all the guests that evening.

Chef Rehman said that he is bringing his traditional style of cooking that has been passed down from the past generations, he wish to bring his cuisine and the traditional food from India to the whole world and let everyone try his very special and authentic Indian cuisine.

We were presented to some common Indian dishes and also some special dishes that I've never seen before. What we can easily recognize were the Flavoured Basmati Rice and Tandoori Chicken. Then we also tried some special dishes such as cottage cheese cooked with hot spices, fish cooked with milk & creamy gravy, and well seasoned grilled prawns and slow-cooked potatoes.

One of the unique dish I tried was the lamb minced skivers that was pretty delicious with very rich and strong spices flavours. We could tell that the chef has used quite a number of mixed spices into the dishes and all dishes need years of experiences to master the perfect ratio.

There are also some vegetarian dishes like cottage cheese simmered with cashew, tomato and milk gravy and also dal simmered with tomato, cream & butter.

Other than those authentic Indian dishes, the hotel also prepared plenty of local and western dishes for all the guests, there were stir fried Vietnamese noodles, crispy fish in Nyonya sauce, stewed seafood & vegetables and also common favourite roasted duck and roasted chicken.

Simple starters before the meal.

While enjoying our dinner, all the guests were also entertained with the performances of Hotel Equatorial's in-house strollers, the Borderzone Band. They were very entertaining bringing all sorts of pop songs as well as some classical musics. The night was pretty enjoyable with their performances.

Then we have special appearance of singer Sammy Ariff, the well known singer for his bold and powerful vocals. He has brought the event to a whole new level getting all the guests engaged with his songs and get people to sing along. He has became popular the moment he started with his first song.

A plate filled with great dishes. Glad to see that they provide the silver plater that we can commonly find when we are having Indian cuisine.

Then, we were treated to all the delicious sweet treats specially crafted by Chef Rehman for the event. There were plenty of Indian desserts as well as cakes and puddings.

We find the taste of those treats are very different from the local Indian treats where Chef Rehman is more playful on the spices which made his treats rather extraordinary, we are not really a fan of sweet stuff due to health concern hence we didn't really try them all.

The night became more colourful with the traditional Indian dance performances specially prepared by Hotel Equatorial Penang featuring some of the Indian pop songs. We were very delighted to be blended into the event and we enjoyed all the performances very much.

The Penang state tourism EXCO, YB Danny Law was invited to present certificate appreciations to Chef Rehman and his 2 assistants and thanked them for bringing cuisine from his home to all the Penangites.

Special award was given to this elegant lady. She won the Best Dressed Award with her beautiful looking Saree and she did some catwalk for all the guests with style. Congratulations to this lucky lady!

Also there were lucky draw sessions for all the guest who have bought the tickets. There were hotel vouchers, dining vouchers, and many more.
The highlight would be the GRAND PRIZE which was a round trip ticket to New Delhi specially sponsored by China Southern Airlines.

The night ended with more singing from Sammy Ariff, it became more entertaining when he walked down the stage and starts singing with the crowd. Many people were queuing to take a selfie with the well known singer include the celebrity chef, Chef Rehman himself.

A group photo of Borderzone Band, Sammy Ariff, management of Hotel Equatorial Penang and some of the guests who have attended the event. It was indeed a fun-filled evening that every guests left with their stomach full and laughter.