Maggi Festival - Battle of tastes over two-minute noodle

New Delhi, Feb 29: There were Maggi noodles stuffed inside momos, mashed with bread, spread over pizza, mixed with poha, baked with cheese and even diluted with vodka. The two minute instant noodle, the saviour of people of ages, got a new dimension at the Maggi Festival held here on Sunday.

The event, which was organised by Delhi-based startup GoBuzzinga and supported by Delhi Food Walks, witnessed a combination of some crazy and delicious Maggi combinations from all over the Delhi-NCR region.

"Delhi has the craziest innovations in Maggi. We are passionate about trying new things and are always discovering best things. Maggi is not just for the present generation but it is equally popular among older people.

"It is not just a food festival, but a platform to showcase innovation with foods," said and GoBuzzinga co-founder CEO and event organiser Shantanu Verma told IANS.

Instead of bringing multiple cuisines, the festival focused on a single food item to act as a platform to showcase innovation. From street vendors, college canteens, cafes, restaurants to home chefs, the festival presented an array of mouth-watering and unique

dishes through 34 stalls.

The return of Maggi last year, was perhaps one the best news for many. And when it a food festival that offers a rainbow of Maggi dishes cooked in multiple flavours, controlling the hunger was just out of question. The aroma coming from some stalls was hard to resist. Wasting no time, it was the moment to gobble down the mouth-watering dishes and give some solace to the tummy.

"Most days I survive on Maggi. I had to come here and am really amazed to see the variety of dishes. I am so confused about what to eat," said 23-year-old Ridhima Shukla, one of the early comers to the event.

The event left one spoilt for choices. Starting from Rs.30 and going upto Rs.180, the festival was more of choosing which Maggi dish to chose.

Multiple choices were on offer: SRCC canteen owner Irrfan served Maggi mixed with sevpuri, VadaPav Junction offered pav Maggi; there was the 'desi' touch with flavours from northern India in dishes like butter chicken Maggi, Punjabi tadka Maggi, chicken

makhani and paneer tikka maggi, along with sizzling southern flavours from Hyderabad in dishes like Awadhi maggi, Hyderabadi maggi and Mughal Maggi.

Maggi momos of Wow Momos was a hot favourite among the crowd. The hot, deep fried crunchy momos stuffed with Maggi were lipsmacking and so was the khatarnak Maggi combo which offered different dishes combined in a plate. Even the Maggi masala was given a new avatar in a dish called 'nitro masala Maggi popcorn'.

However, it was the amalgamation of Maggi with alcohol that became the main attraction of the event. Cooked with vodka, whiskey, wine and beer, Maggi was infused with liquors, giving it a completely new taste.

The event also witnessed many stalls set up by home chefs, who presented their culinary skills through a variety of dishes.

"It is a good platform for home chefs to display their cooking talent. There can be no competition with Maggi and better than cooking the noodles in different flavours," said Manoj, who had set his own stall and served crunchy Maggi cooked in olive oil.

The only disappointing part of the festival was that it was a single day event. No matter how short event it was, Maggi proved that it is going to rule the tummy forever.

IANS