A kebab palace for vegetarians

Kebabs – Does the name make you drool, but being a vegetarian stops you in your tracks? Do kebab parties become a no-go zone as you are avoiding meat? Then this is the kebab joint you have been waiting for.

Pastry Palace Bakers and Confectioners in Green Park Main Market make such exotic vegetarian kebabs that you will forget all about fish, chicken and mutton; and their fare is so tasty that you will keep coming back for more.

Incidentally, it was also love for vegetarian food, and “hatred” for non-veg, which made the owner of Pastry Palace- Manoj Dhanwani start making vegetarian kebabs.

He says, “Twenty-four years back, as a food lover, I started this bakery in partnership with a friend. The cakes and pastries anyways had egg but his wish to introduce non-veg snacks as well, and my firm decision to not allow the same, made us part ways.”

“However, the demand for snacks even in a bakery is pretty high, and so I decided to learn making different kinds of vegetarian kebabs to serve our customers. I consu­l­t­ed friends, chefs, even food shows on TV and introduced our first vegetarian snack– so­ya tikka.”

“Later on, I came up with soya chops, kala chana kebab and paneer kebab for summer as well as katthal (jackfruit), cauliflower, button mushroom and oyster mushroom kebabs for winter. I consciously avoided haryali kebabs as they are so commonly served in weddi­n­gs that I just decided to let them stay there.”

They serve only one kind of chutney – made of pudina (mint), dhaniya (coriander leaves) and hari mirch (green chillies) but it makes for the best accompaniment. Also, their kebabs are made on open-air barbeques which ensures that they are high on proteins but less on fat and calories. Manoj adds, “These kebabs require a lot of hard work to make but we believe in serving only that stuff which is appetizing.” No doubt, the crowds of youngsters lined up for the delicacies here speak for themselves. Avanika Arora, a student of Lady Shri Ram College says, “The kebabs here are the tastiest veg kebabs I have ever had. Their paneer is just melt-in-the-mouth. And where else can you get a kebab like that for just Rs. 100.”

Her classmate Preksha Gaur adds, “Once I asked Manoj uncle why he doesn’t make non-veg kebabs. His reply was: ‘I can make you fish, chicken or even mutton flavour in vegetarian kebabs. Which flavour do you want?”

Pastry Palace is open from 10 am to 9.30 pm but they start making their kebabs from 5 pm only.