Bhubaneswar: Techie Abinas Nayak from Odisha capital has won the ‘Hungry for Haldiram Cooking Contest 2018’ for his ‘little chokha cone and Odia traditional drink, chenna panna’, and he received the award from popular chef Kunal Kapoor.
The young chef had earlier won the online contest of the same, where his picture got most likes and shares.
The contest was held in Nagpur on October 30.
Abinas said every day was like a new page of life’s book. “If that is so, then October 30 will be marked as the best-written page of my life. Chef Kunal Kapoor was an amazing mentor and it was an honour to have shared space with him and learn some cooking tips,” he said.
The techie said he was too happy to be able to put it down in words. “Presenting traditional Odia food was the best part. I still can’t believe that I have won the contest,” he added.
The second position was grabbed by another young chef from Bhubaneswar, Amol Mohanty for his ‘motichoor’ pudding.
Abinas had posted a picture of his dish with the caption that read, “During winter especially I tend to crave snacks. One them was hot Litti Chokha, grilled fresh and topped with ghee.
So, inspired by the chills of winter and Litti chokha #whatsonmyplate is LITTI CONE WITH BARTA SWIRL AND A VERY SPECIAL SATTU using Haldiram Snacks. It looks like you are having a cold ice cream but actually, you will be having a warm Litti chokha and bharta with chatpata sattu.”
Inspired by Ratatouille, showed in the Pixar movies, Abinas had tried to recreate ‘Dalma’ with all the same ingredients and spices just cooked in a different technique, the picture of which he shared in a food lovers’ group ‘Food Findo’ on Facebook.