Food: This 'Udta Punjab' may be more up to your taste

(From IANS)

Long before the controversial film, professional caterer Sameer Barabde''s Bollywood catering company ''Udta Punjab'' had attained popularity for its special Punjabi cuisine in suburban Goregaon.

After ''catering'' to several movies, including ''Rocky Handsome'', ''Fitoor'' and ''Madari'', Udta Punjab diversified to speedy home-deliveries in the western suburbs.

The company, run by the Barabde brothers catering graduate Sameer and Bollywood line producer Sunnyl, yes, Sunnyl has introduced what is perhaps the city''s first ''Party by Kilo'' food service. ''We have seen that many Mumbaikars have regular small parties of 10-15 persons at home. But ordering everything on piece-portion basis proves very expensive,'' Sameer said.

''Now, Udta Punjab is offering everything on a kilo basis, which can drastically cut down the budget and enable them to order more items on the menu, besides making our deliveries flexible to cover entire Mumbai and Navi Mumbai,'' Sunnyl explained. Citing an example, he said for a party of around 15 people, at least 2kg of biryani would be required, but by the kilo system, they can order 1kg biryani, and 1kg of other items to make it a full variety, yet economical meal.

However, despite the experience of Bollywood catering behind them, Sameer and Sunnyl have not labelled any of their dishes after stars or starry preferences. ''For us, each of our customer is a star and their response is what we starve for,'' smiled Sameer.

His professional catering qualifications notwithstanding, Sameer with origins in Nagpur magnanimously gave due credit for the food preparations and menu items to his chef, Simon Rodrigues, hailing from West Bengal''s 24 Parganas. ''Simon is the backbone of this business. Without him, it would be difficult to please hundreds of hungry and discerning customers daily in these areas which comprise a generous mix of people from Bollywood, IT and call centres, national and multinational corporate houses and upper-class residential areas,'' Sameer said.

Referring to the name, Udta Punjab, Sameer grinned obviously waiting for the question and said it is part of his company, Tirupati Hospitality, and over a year old. ''However, the recent controversy over the film ''Udta Punjab'' had definitely helped us and most customers enquire ''who inspired whom'' for the name,'' he chuckled.

The reason for the name Udta Punjab was to signify the special authentic Punjabi flavour in the cuisine and ''flying'' delivery to its customers all over, he explained, adding that the decision to go retail was taken in February 2016, long before the ''Udta Punjab'' promos were released. Read more