'Indo-Pak' food awaits Gilani, Manmohan

Gosht barra, tawa ki machhi, tandoori salmon, chops biryani and other delicacies will be served at the dinner Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host for his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan.

The vegetarian menu will also have shahi idlis, subz biryani, bhindi naintara and more. The desserts will include gulukand ka kalakand as well as kesari phirni. The dinner will be hosted at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium complex around 7.30 p.m. Wednesday.

Around 30 dignitaries, including the prime ministers, senior members of their delegations, and the governors and chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana, select central ministers and top officials of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be at the dinner.

A simultaneous dinner with be served at another hall in the complex for the remaining 300-plus VIPs. “We have made all arrangements for the high-profile dinner. The food will be an experience for them. We will make sure that there is no LoC (Line of Control) where food is concerned,” Anil Malhotra, general manager of Hotel Taj, which will provide the dinner, told IANS here.

With security concerns running high, each item will be put through a micro biology test before it is served. Being a vegetarian and on a disciplined diet, Manmohan Singh is likely to opt for low-oil food like spinach and dal. Informed sources said that since Gilani's wife is not coming to Mohali, Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur will drive to the Taj for dinner with wives of other dignitaries.

The Indian and Pakistani teams are also staying at the Taj. Sources in the security establishment told IANS that Manmohan Singh, who will arrive here from New Delhi Wednesday morning, will welcome Gilani at the PCA stadium around 2 p.m. The prime ministers will watch the match for some time before both head back to Chandigarh around 4 p.m.

They will meet again at the stadium, 10 km from here, in the evening for the dinner.