Salman to attend sister's reception in Himachal

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan will be reaching Himachal Pradesh's Mandi town on Monday to attend his younger sister Arpita Khan's marriage reception, event organisers said on Sunday.

The state government has declared the actor a state guest and will provide him a chopper to take him and his family to the venue from Chandigarh.

Salman and his family will visit Mandi, the hometown of his sister's husband Aayush Sharma, for the first time to attend "dham", a traditional community feast being organised by state Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma to felicitate his daughter-in-law and son.

He told reporters that more than 10,000 people have been invited for the event.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is unlikely to attend the reception as he is preoccupied with official work, his office said.

"Dham" is a traditional meal served on leaf plates to the guests sitting on the floor by using the finest ingredients, traditional recipes and methods. The cuisines are cooked by chefs trained by the "botis" or hereditary cooks.

It is basically a four-course unlimited meal.

The main course has the chaa ghosht or lamb cooked in yoghurt gravy, or murgh anardana, chicken stewed in pomegranate paste, for non-vegetarians.

For vegetarians, it is Himachali dal channa, split gram with fennel seeds, and mathri choware, lentil fritters in spinach gravy.

For those with a sweet tooth, there is meethe chawal, sweetened red rice with dry fruits and saffron.

The food is cooked in copper vessels which impart a unique flavour to the dishes.

The main course will have a choice of bread -- babroo, chawal ki kadak roti and beduan roti.

Arpita married Aayush, the grandson of former telecom minister Sukhram, on November 18 last year.

Mandi, located on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway-21, is dotted with more than 80 temples built in typical hill architecture. It's popularly called "Chhoti Kashi".

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