G20 Summit: From Millets To Litti Chokha, What Is On The Menu For Delegates?

As the national capital prepares to host the G20 summit on September 9-10, hotels and restaurants around the city have carefully curated their menu to serve several high-profile guests including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. From millets to Litti Chokha, the hospitality industry will be serving special dishes from different states.

As many as eight to ten dishes, starting from appetisers to the main course will be a part of the menu designed to be an enriching culinary journey, including modern versions of traditional dishes. "It's a one-time experience where we get to serve not just our high-profile guests, but some of the most influential figures in the world. We are all very excited and ready to roll," an official from Le Meridien told news agency PTI.

What's on the menu?

As the United Nations (UN) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, restaurants across Delhi will display an assortment of dishes with millets. 'Millet-ness' will be added to dishes like pancakes and Ragi dosa. A millet bar will be organised by JW Marriot with salads, dates, nuts and fruits, Indian Express reported. 

Ahead of the G20 summit, several meetings and events which were attended by global ministers, senior officials and civil society institutions before the heads of states arrive, saw Indian millets and curated Indian regional cuisines on the plate. 

In a video released on social media, G20 delegates can be seen attending an outdoor and an indoor event that showcases sweet and savoury dishes made with millets by homegrown entrepreneurial ventures and small-scale farmers. Delegates were introduced to millet varieties like kodo millet, barnyard millet, red jowar millet, little millet, proso millet, etc to highlight that 2023 is the International Year of Millets. 

Different restaurants of Le Meridien will offer special dishes of states including Bihar’s Litti Chokha, Rajasthani Gatta Curry, Kashmir’s Saffron Korma, Lucknow’s Nalli Nihari, Kerala’s Meen Pollichathu, Goa’s Chicken Xacuti Masala and West Bengal’s Chingri Malai curry, according to a report by Deccan Herald.