Port Moresby: Indian cuisine and millets found a prominent place at the banquet lunch hosted by Prime Minister Modi for the leaders attending the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea on Monday.
Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape co-hosted a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. PM Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit the Pacific nation. The lunch included Khandvi, a popular delicacy from PM Modi's home state of Gujarat; millet and vegetable soup made with Kodo millet and highland vegetables served with cornbread; malai kofta (cottage cheese and vegetable balls simmered in aromatic Indian rich kofta curry); Rajasthani ragi gatta curry, prepared with finger millet and gram flour dumplings cooked in sour gravy; vegetable Kolhapuri (a mix vegetable cooked with traditional Indian onion-tomato gravy) and dal panchmel (special lentils mix cooked in Mewar style).
Millet biryani, vegetable biryani made with nutrient-rich barnyard millet and nannu fulka, bread made with wheat flour were also served.
The menu also included desserts and beverages like masala chaas, drink made with creamy yoghurt and Indian spices; paan kulfi, betel leaves flavoured milk-based Indian dessert and malpua with rabdi, Indian sweet pancake. The inclusion of millets in the menu reflects the importance India gives to millets and the efforts made by the country to raise awareness for food security and nutrition. (Contd On Page 2)