Life's curry beyond sports

Guwahati, Feb 10(UNI) Anyone walking into the Games Village will be automatically led to the dining room by the aroma of the exotic food that is on the menu for its over 11,000 inhabitants.

In the sprawling Games village, the home of 11000 people for the next nine days, the most loved place is obviously the huge dining hall. A replica the historical Rang Ghar, the hall is proving that there's life beyond the track and field.

''Since this is going to be a mini India, the menu needed to be worked out in such a manner that we could cater to the taste of players from all over the country,'' Ashwin G Prabhu, head chef of Ashoka Hotel, Delhi, says.

''This is for the first time I am handling such a big event, I feel proud,'' Ashwin whose team includes assistant chefs from both Delhi and Guwahati, added with thrill. From the early hours to midnights, about 1000 people are working behind the scene in three shifts to feed the people.

Whether its Chicken curry, Vegetable Jalfrezi, Karai Paneer, Idli Sambar, Chicken Korra, Fish Curry with mustard on that rice with jaggery, its pan-Indian cuisine under a roof with smiling faces scattered around the majestic hall that can accommodate up to 10,000 people.

There is also a corner for traditional Asomese food, which uses less spice then their counterparts in other parts of the country.

There are also tandoors, hemmed by 35 odd cooks, who constantly rustle up fresh breads. The daily need for naan is around 50,000, a huge number.

''We have installed close circuit cameras in the kitchen and the dinning hall to monitor all activities and have put up LCD TVs for the players to enjoy the Games life,'' convenor of the food committee Rajesh Prasad says.

Almost every day one truckload of ice cream is needed in the Games village. ''We are taking special care for hygienic food, besides less oil and less fat so that athletes do not feel uncomfortable, ''he said.

There are separate counters for the North Indian food and South Indian delicacies but a number of Haryana wrestlers are seen trying samber rice while a few of Andhra swimmers are tasting Asomese delicacies with great pleasure.

UNI