Overview
- President Droupadi Murmu welcomed European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to a state dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- Chefs Prateek Sadhu and Kamlesh Negi curated a menu drawing from Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the Northeast to spotlight mountain cuisines.
- Courses featured yak cheese custard with bhaang mathri, guchhi and Solan mushrooms with poppy seeds and burnt tomato sauce, and Himachali swarnu rice with regional chutneys including akhuni and walnut.
- Desserts included a Himalayan ragi and Kashmiri apple cake with timru and sea buckthorn cream, coffee custard using beans from Assam, and honey-dressed persimmon.
- The banquet coincided with the EU leaders serving as Republic Day chief guests as India and the EU finalized a free-trade pact described by officials as the “mother of all deals.”