Every country and region has its own rice specialities. There is biryani and khichdi from the Indian sub-continent, Bisi bele bath, Chitranna (Karnataka), Pongal (Tamil Nadu) and Paella (Spain) to name a few. Italy has risotto, which literally means `little rice’, which belongs to northern Italy - Veneto Lombardy and Piedmont regions.

Arborio, Vialone nano and Carnaroli are some of the varieties of risotto.

Executive chef Mandaar Sukhtankar at i-t.Alia at The Park will be serving an array of vegetarian, non vegetarian and dessert risottos during the risotto festival from March 21 to March 30.

Explains the Chef, “A perfect risotto will always have a bit and distinct creaminess. The process of making risotto begins with sauteing the onions to gently building up the risotto with wine and stock and finally blending it with butter and cheese.

During the risotto promotion at i-t.Alia there will be a range of vegetarian, non-vegetarian and dessert risottos.

The non-vegetarian selection includes classic seafood risotto with anchovies, shrimps, clam, mussels, squid and tomato and risotto with John Dory, capers and parsley. John Dory is the name of a high priced fin fish, which has become popular in many restaurants in Bangalore of late. It is sold and cooked, grilled or fried mainly as fillets.

The fillet of John Dory is served on a bed of risotto.

The vegetarian selection offers risotto of snow peas, mascarpone and thyme, creamy morel and rosemary risotto.
Risotto specials include sage and walnut arancini with roasted chicken and Gorgonzola, duck risotto timbale. A special and unusual dish is the black rice with sweet onion, asparagus, almonds and pecorino.

Surprisingly, there are risotto desserts too. Roasted peach, sherry and amaretti risotto is delectable and perhaps the nearest Indian equivalent of sweet pongal. Chocolate, hazelnut and lemon risotto is another dessert innovation.

Though the basic cooking technique of each risotto is the same with four basic components: soffritto (saute vegetables), broth, flavouring ingredients and Italian rice, the taste of each risotto dish created by the chefs lies in the use of choicest ingredients to create exquisite flavours.