On World Vegan Day on November 1, The Soaltee Kathmandu kicked off its ten-day-long Vegan Food Festival, which the hotel hopes will help spread knowledge and awareness about veganism. The hotel is also using the festival to promote the possibilities of plant-based dishes that replicate the texture and taste of meat.

“A month ago, our hotel served as a venue partner for the Himalayan Vegan Festival. Many who took part in the festival suggested that we incorporate more vegan dishes into our menus,” says Agnimitra Sharma, executive assistant manager of F&B at The Soaltee Kathmandu. “This made sense because veganism is more popular than ever. We felt the need to cater to that demographic and work towards making The Soaltee Kathmandu a go-to place for vegans for quality food. So we decided to organise our very own vegan food festival and further spread awareness on veganism.”

The food menu is at the heart of any food festival, and The Soaltee Kathmandu says its team spent considerable time and resources designing the menu. Rajaram Bidari, chef de partie at The Soaltee Kathmandu, designed the festival’s menu. Bidari has spent the entirety of his culinary career of 15 years with the hotel.

“One of the areas we focused a lot on while designing the menu was creating vegan dishes that replicate the taste and texture of meat dishes,” says Bidari. “From the types of dishes, ingredients, and preparation time to types of utensils to serve the dishes, we went through each and every detail. We also conducted multiple tasting sessions before finalising the dishes.”

The result of all that is a menu that features dishes like soya keema curry, vegan mutton curry, vegan chicken curry, eggless bhurji, and subz jalfrezi, among others.

“The secret to making vegan dishes that taste like non-veg counterparts is by using the precise amount of plant protein and choosing the right spices and using them in the right quantity,” says Bidari.

In terms of taste and texture, the dish featured in the festival that comes closest to its non-vegetarian counterpart is the eggless bhurji. Bidari and his team have used soya instead of eggs. Courtesy of the right amount of seasoning and the precise size of chopped soya, the eggless bhurji will most likely have you not miss eggs at all.

The one ingredient that repeatedly features in the festival’s dishes is soya. Bidari says that the team decided to use soya not just because of how its texture could be cooked to closely represent different types of meat but also because of its inherent protein content.

“The trick to making soya taste like meat or egg is preparing it by using the right amount of spices. Apart from natural spices, we have not used any artificial flavour to enhance the dishes’ taste and flavour,” says Bidari.

Besides soybean-based dishes, the menu also features dishes like rajma masala, yellow dal tadka, mutter mushroom masala, vegetable biryani, quinoa and raisin salad, roasted tomato, bell pepper soup, etc. More than 90 percent of the dishes featured in the festival will be incorporated into the menu of Soaltee Kathmandu’s F&B outlets.

“We hope the variety of vegan dishes we have featured in the festival will encourage other restaurants and food-serving venues to expand their vegan options in their respective menus,” says Sharma, a vegan. “This way, vegans like me do not have to always settle for a handful of dishes to choose from every time we go out to eat.”

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What: Vegan Food Festival

Where: Garden Terrace, The Soaltee Kathmandu

When: November 1 to November 10, 12 pm to 10 pm

Contact: 9801067222