Taipei’s weather is damp and cold; hotels launch spicy “Indian Food Festival”

Reported by Yu T-Ru / Taipei

As the season turns damp and cold in winter, it’s the perfect time to warm your palate with aromatic Indian cuisine. Taipei hotel operators have invited an executive chef team from a five-star hotel in New Delhi to Taiwan. From January 25 to February 3, they are launching an Indian Food Festival where, starting from just NT$699 per person, you can enjoy a variety of classic delicacies including tandoori chicken, traditional curries, various types of flatbreads, and Indian biryani.


▲ Executive Chef Arvind Rai from a five-star hotel in New Delhi, India. (Photo / Provided by Taipei Fullon)

The executive chef leading this event, Arvind Rai, is a chef of state banquet caliber in India, skilled in a wide range of traditional dishes and has also represented the hotel on visits to countries such as the UK, France, Hungary, and Argentina. Another participant in this food festival, the hotel’s sous chef Abdul Rasheed, specializes in South Indian cuisine. The local culinary culture, known for its spicy flavors, will be presented in Taipei Fullon through these two chefs.

India, an agrarian and pastoral nation, places immense importance on rice and wheat in its dietary culture. Dishes representing North Indian agricultural culture, such as traditional flatbreads (Naan) and Indian wheat bread (Roti), will be served. The Haryali Kabab, a green-spiced round flatbread rarely seen in Taiwan, is made by the chef using spinach puree mixed with flour and unique spices, then slow-roasted to deliver both vegetable aroma and nutrition—healthy and delicious. The Paratha, a layered flatbread, involves a complex manual process where the chef layers and folds the dough multiple times during preparation to create its distinctive flaky texture.

The boldly spicy Indian curries will also be presented in their original form as well as with coconut milk. In addition to the classic dishes mentioned above, there will also be Indian-style fried spice dumplings, pea biryani, butter chicken nuggets, and spiced milk tea.

The chef team led by Arvind Rai adheres to traditional Indian seasoning, having air-freighted many key local ingredients and spices to Taiwan to offer a variety of Indian dishes that blend both Southern and Northern cultural elements, providing a refreshing experience. To present the most authentic Indian ambiance, Taipei Fullon Hotel has not only decorated its central courtyard Rainbow Lounge with local cultural elements but has also invested heavily to import an authentic tandoor oven from India, where the famous tandoori chicken is cooked on-site.