The galleys of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth filled with the aroma of spices as the team from the Punjab Restaurant in London’s Covent Garden shared their culinary skills with the warship’s chefs to serve up a feast for shipmates and guests. The flavoursome meal formed the centrepiece of Navratri celebrations complete with traditional garba beats, organised by the Royal Navy’s Race Diversity Network aboard the aircraft carrier at Portsmouth Naval Base.
Navratri fosters a sense of community, tradition and spiritual reflection, marked by prayer, music, dance, fasting – and also feasting.
With the latter in mind, chefs from the Covent Garden restaurant, which has been treating diners to traditional Punjabi dishes for nearly 80 years, helped to serve up regional delicacies to some of the 700 crew, plus guests, including members of the National Hindu Students’ Forum (NHSF).
‘Curry night’ is a mainstay of the weekly menu in all Royal Navy warships, and the opportunity to cook alongside some of the country's top Indian chefs was not to be missed, said Petty Officer Carl Tester, one of the carrier’s senior caterers.
“It took our guests a while to get used to the scale of the equipment we use on board but they soon settled in,” he added.
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“The chefs from the Punjab Restaurant were especially good with engaging the more junior Navy chefs and encouraging them to get involved.
“No matter their backgrounds or environments, there is an unwritten understanding between chefs about the level of hard work that goes in to producing meals and I could really see that today.”
Before tucking in – for the record, village tarka daal (a traditional Punjabi lentil dish), Amritsari chole (a chickpea curry from Amritsar) and a spiced onion kulcha naan bread – the ship’s company were treated to some regular elements of Navratri celebrations.
Members of the NHSF performed Hindu Garba dance – which the sailors attempted to copy with varying degrees of success – and music, followed by leading all present through Aarti (religious singing).
“The food today was absolutely delicious, it has been a real privilege to taste some of these authentic Punjabi dishes in our own dining halls,” said Lieutenant Commander Matthew Key, the carrier’s senior meteorological officer.
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“It was interesting to learn about the festival of Navratri – and we did our best to keep up during the dancing demonstration!”
For the chefs from the restaurant, which is a big supporter of the Armed Forces Covenant, as well as guests, the event on the carrier offered an insight into life in the RN, the skills naval chefs possess – and the challenges of producing quality meals to hundreds of sailors three times a day.
“The size of the ship and the scale of the catering operation here is incredible,” said Amrit S. Maan, the Punjab’s managing director.
“We are proud British Punjabi owners and it has been a real blessing to celebrate Navaratri with everyone on board today with our traditional dishes. We are proud to be signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant and we always find it a joy to visit bases, ships and community events to cook our food,” he said.