Lucknow cuisine

Origin
It was 137 years ago that the last of the kings of Avadh walked on the sarzameen (land) of
their beloved Lucknow. While these monarchs sat on the
throne of Avadh, there was nothing that they left untouched,
thankfully, for their touch was like the proverbial magic
wand. It could raise the most mundane of activities into the
realm of art and to unattained heights of excellence. Little
wonder that even bawarchis became master creator of
culinary delights. Powerful courts all over India vyed with
each other to wean away a cook who had either worked or
was trained in Lucknow. To belong to Lucknow was the
highest qualification a cook could hold.

The ruler of Avadh engaged in peaceful pursuits since the battle of Buxar, and laid the
foundation of a culture which dazzled the world. Under their patronage developed a
cuisine which did not remain the prerogative of royalty alone. Recipes traveled from the
royal kitchens of the nobilities and from there, to the kichens of ordinary people.

All the while, research and innovation proceeded unabated in the bawarchi khanas of the
royalty and aristocracy where money was no constraint, neither was time. In the mid 18th
century, in the personal bawarchi khana of Nawab Shuja-Ud-Daula, Rs. 60,000 was spent
per month or Rs. 7.2 lakhs per year on the preparation of dishes. The dishes which
adorned his dastarkhwan did not come from the kitchen alone but from five other
bawarchikhanas, including that of his mother Nawab Begum and his wife Bahu Begum.
These ladies separately spent Rs. 9,000 per every month on the preparation of food. The
staggering salaries of the hierarchy of cooks and other kitchen staff came from a separate
budget.

However, high salaries were not the only reason for the excellent performance of the
cooks. They were given total freedom to pursue their work their own way. Examples of
cooks laying down conditions of employment before crowned heads, and the latter
meekly accepting them, would only be found in Lucknow. And in Lucknow alone would
you find cooks strutting off in a huff if the king did not sit down for a meal when told to
do so by the cook because the food was hot. A tale is told of a cook employed only to
prepare mash ki dal (arhar ki dal) on a monthly salary of Rs. 500. The dal was not cooked
daily but once in a while, and the king was condition bound to sit down at the
dastarkhwan when he cook announced that dal was ready. The king once delayed, so the
cook left. Before leaving, he emptied the contents of the dish at a place where stood a
stalk of a dead tree. In a few days, leaves started sprouting from the stalk and before long,
the tree turned a healthy green colour (source: Abdul Sharar’s The last phase of an
Oriental Culture). The story may appear like an exaggeration but the fact remains that
the ingredients that went into the preparation of the royal dishes were very nutritious.

It was unwritten law that the master would sanction whatever quantity of ingredients the
cook demanded. No questions were asked nor doubts expressed. Another popular story
goes that king Ghazi-ud-din Haider slapped his vazir Agha Meer for reducing the
quantity of ghee used by the cook in preparing parathas. The king was no fool. He said
that even if the cook pilfered some ghee, so what? The parathas he made were excellent,
while ”you rob the whole monarchy and think nothing of it.”

It was not royalty alone who pampered their cooks. The nobility, aristocracy and people
of lesser means too maintained well stocked and well staffed kitchens from where were
turned out the most exotic of dishes. Begums and ordinary housewives too preserved in
their kitchens and acquired an excellence that could match the skills of a professional
bawarchi.

Lazeez Lauki

Broadly, there are three categories of cooks in Lucknow. The bawarchis cook food in
large quantities. The rakabdars cook in small gourmet quantities. Rakabdars also
specialize in the garnishing and presentation of dishes. The nanfus make a variety of roti,
chapattis, naans, sheermals, kulchas and taftans.

Normally, one cook does not prepare the entire meal. There are specialists for different
dishes and also a variety of helpers like the degbos who wash the utensils, the masalchis
who grind the masala and the mehris who carry the khwan (tray) to be spread on the
dastarkhwan. The wealthy always had their kitchens supervised by an officer called
daroga-e-bawarchi khana or mohtamim. It was this officer’s seal on the khwan that
guaranteed quality control.

The Lucknow dastarkhwan would not be complete unless it had the following dishes.
Qorma (braised meat in thick gravy), salan (a gravy dish of meat or vegetable), qeema
(minced meat), kababs (pounded meat fried or roasted over a charcoal fire), bhujia
(cooked vegetables), dal, pasinda (fried slivers of very tender meat, usually kid, in gravy)
Rice is cooked with meat in the form in the form of a pulao, chulao (fried rice) or served
plain. There would also be a variety of rotis. Deserts comprise gullati (rice pudding),
kheer (milk sweetened and boiled with whole rice to a thick consistency), sheer brunj, (a
rich, sweet rice dish boiled in milk), muzaffar (vermicelli fried in ghee and garnished
with saffron).

The Lucknowi’s menu changes with the seasons and with the festival which mark the
month. The severity of winters is fought with rich food. Paye (trotters) are cooked
overnight over a slow fire and the shorba (thick gravy) eaten with naans. Turnips are also
cooked overnight with meat koftas and kidneys and had for lunch. This dish is called
shab degh and a very popular in Lucknow. The former Taluqdar of Jehangirabad would
serve it to his friends on several occasions during winter.

Zamin Doz Machchli

Birds like patridge and quail are had from the advent of winter since they are heat giving
meats. Fish is relished from the advent of winter till spring. It is avoided in the rainy
season. Lucknowis prefer river fish particularly rahu (carp), for fish bones are the last
thing they would like to struggle with for this reason, fish kababs (cooked in mustard oil)
are preferred.

Peas are the most sought after vegetable in Lucknow. People never tire of eating peas.
One can spot peas in salan, qeema, pulao or just fried plain.

Sawan (spring) is celebrated with pakwan (crisp snacks), phulkis (besan pakoras in
salan), puri-kababs and birahis (paratha stuffed with mashed dal) khandoi (steamed balls
of dal in a salan), laute paute (gram flour pancakes, rolled and sliced and served in a
salan) and colocasia-leaf cutlets served with salan add variety. Raw mangoes cooked in
semolina and jaggery or sugar, makes a delicious dessert called curamba, in summer.
These dishes come from the rural Hindu population of Lucknow.

Activity in the kitchen increases with the approach of festivals. During Ramzan, the
month of fasting, the cooks and the ladies of the house are busy throughout the day
preparing the iftari (the meal eaten at the end of the day’s fast), not only for the family
but for the friends and the poor.

Id is celebrated with varieties of siwaiyan (vermicelli) – Muzzaffar is a favouritein

Lucknow. Shab-e-barat is looked forward to for its halwas particularly of semolina and
gram flour. Khichra or haleem , a del;icious mixture of dals wheat and meat, cooked
together, is had during Muharram, since it signifies a sad state of mind.

There are dishes which appear and disappear from the Lucknow dastarkhwan with the
season and there are those which are a permanent feature, like the qorma, the chapatti and
the roomali roti. The test of a good chapatti is that you should be able to see the sky
through it. The dough should be very loose and is left in a lagan (deep broad vessel) filled
with water for half an hour before the chapattis are made.

Sheermals were invented by mamdoo bawarchi more than one and a half century ago.
They are saffron covered parathas made from a dough of flour mixed with milk and ghee
and baked in iron tandoors. No other city produces sheermals like Lucknow does and the
festive dastarkhwan is not complete without it. Saffron is used to flavour sweets too.

Kakori kababs

Utensils are made either of iron or copper. Meat kababs are cooked in a mahi tawa (large,
round shallow pan), using a kafgir which is a flat, long handled ladle for turning kababs
and parathas. Bone china plates and dishes were used in Lucknow since the time of
Nawabs. Water was normally sipped from copper or silver kato ras and not glasses. The
seating arrangement, while eating was always on the floor where beautifully embroidered
dastarkhwans were spread on dares and chandnis (white sheets). Sometimes this
arrangement was made on a takht or low, wide wooden table.
 Culinary History
The cuisine of UP is reminiscent of the Nawabi and the
Mughal glory. Each city offers a different but equally
inviting cuisine for the gourmet. Banaras is famous for it's
bazaars full of 'jalebis', sweetmeats and a myriad variety
of 'kachoris'. The 'pethas' from Agra are popular all over
the country. And Lucknow offers the most exquisite mix of
Nawabi food.

According to legend Dum Pukht cuisine was discovered

when Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah decreed that the builders of
the Bara Imam Bara Mosque should have access to food day
and night. Street cooks assembled giant pots, filled them
with rice, meat, vegetables and spices and placed them on
gently simmering fires. The lids were sealed with dough and
topped with hot coals to slow-cook the food and keep it
warm around the clock. When the Nawab tasted the food
during an inspection, he was most impressed and ordered his chefs to refine the
cooking technique in the royal kitchens. "Dum Pukht", means 'to breathe' and 'to
cook'. The cuisine owes its excellence to the fact that the food, sealed in a dish and
slow-cooked in its own juices, retains all its natural aromas and flavours.

The coarse camp fare of central Asian desert tribes, the kebab migrated with the
nomads via Kabul, Peshawar and Lahore to Lucknow, where royal chefs worked their
magic on it. They diced, minced and pounded the meat, enhancing it with herbs and
spicesMoulded into various shapes, the kababs were grilled, fried, or skewered and
baked in a charcoal oven. With the fall of the Mughal Empire, the secrets of Avadhi
gastronomy were lost to all but a few direct descendants of the 200-year-old Avadhi
clan of royal chefs. The Red Fort is proud to have secured the services of two of the
guardians of this treasured legacy : Master Chefs Irshad Ahmed Quereshi and
Mohammed Ashfaq Ansari, relatives of Imtiaz Quereshi, the high priest of Avadhi
cuisine.

Lucknow's meat cuisine -- the kababs, the biryanis, the salans, the dal goshts --
cooked from the finest and most exotic of ingredients is mouth-watering. Lucknowi
kitchens are all about huge, fragrant handis of rich food -- recipes nearly always call
for heavy cream, raisins, saffron, almonds, cashewnuts -- toasting for hours on
glowing coal fires and attended to by a battery of cooks. A traditonal Lucknow daavat
takes three days to prepare. The first marination. The second marination. The third
marination. The simmering overnight on gently, dying fires. The baking all day in clay
ovens. Frying. Delicate roasting. Sauteing...

Most families in Uttar Pradesh eat vegetarian food, although meat delicacies of the
Awadh style of cooking are world famous. Average cuisines in Uttar Pradesh revolve
around the simple, vegetables curries of all kinds. But there is a predominance of
fried foods like the tasty `kachori' and `puri', which are a must especially during
festivities.
A lot of emphasis is placed on savories and sweet meats in this state. From `mathris'
to jalebis, the latter often consumed with milk, a whole variety of foods are offered
whenever you venture out on a visit. The classic `tehzeeb' or courtesy that one must
treat guests with make such savouries a must.
Lucknow is known world wide for its biryanis and different meat preparations. Nihari
and naan, a mutton dish served for breakfast, is the only thing that can complete a
holiday to the land of Mughals. The well-known and popular `dum pukht' way of
cooking, when meat dishes are cooked slowly in their own juices, is also to be
sampled. All in all, there is a lot that can be eaten in Uttar Pradesh, but it isn't half
as much as what can be seen!

Like various other art forms. the culinary art of Lucknow was also raised to a fine art
under royal patronage. A favourite past time of the nobility of Awadh was perfecting the
art of cooking. The bawarchis and rakabdars of
Awadh, by their expertise of blending spices,
achieved a high degree of finesse in cooking and
presentation of food that took culinary art to the
highest realms. This gave birth to the Dum style of
cooking or the art of cooking over a slow fire, which
has become synonymous with Lucknow today. The
bawarchisof Awadh transformed the traditional
dastarkhwan with elaborate dishes like kababs,
kormas, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal,
roomali rotis and warqi parathas. The richness of
Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine
but also is the ingredients used in creating such a
variety. Nahari a hot favourite of Awadh is a meat preparation with thick spicy gravy. In
'Pai ki Nahari' leg and other bones are cooked and bone juice is mixed with a mouth
watering gravy. Nahari was originally a beef preparation eaten with Kulchas . Now-a-
days mutton is used instead of beef in houses. The best place where beef Nahari is still
served in Lucknow is the Rahim's shop inside Akbarigate which has produced some of
the best Nahari dishes for the past five generations. Lucknow is also proud of its Kababs.
The Kakori Kababs. Galawat ke Kababs Shami Kababs. Boti Kababs, Patili-ke-Kababs,
Ghutwa Kababs and Seekh Kababs are among the known varities. The 100 year old
'Tunde ke Kabab' in chowk is the most famous outlet for choicest Kababs even today.
Karma a preparation ofmeat in gravy was an essential item of the Awadh dastarkhwan.
'Biryani' was yet another item cooked in Dum style. The method imparted a typical
Awadhi flavour to this rice preparation. The warqi paratha and sheermals are other
sumptuous dishes of Lucknow that are simply a gourmet's delight.

Menu-1
Kakori Kebab

Tomato shorba

Chicken Reshmi kabab

Naan

Malpua

Kakori kabab

INGREDIENTS

2 cups minced mutton/lamb

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered black pepper
2 tbsp chopped green coriander
chopped green chillies to taste
2 tbsp chopped raw papaya
4 cloves
1 black cardamom – seeds
1/8 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 blade mace
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
2 cups onions - sliced thin, and browned crisp in ½ cup ghee
1/4 cup bhuna chana - powdered
1 egg
ghee for brushing
some chaat masala - onion rings and lemon wedges for garnish

METHOD

Mix all ingredients except ghee and garnishes to marinate for about 4 hours, then grind to
form a smooth, thick paste.

Knead this mixture well and mix in the roasted gram and the egg.

Cover and refrigerate for another hour.

About 25 minutes before serving, shape the meat around the skewers and place the
kababs on to a grill over a drip tray, or in a pre-heated oven (also on a drip tray).

If cooking them over a charcoal grill, you will have to keep rotating them so that they
brown and cook evenly. They should take 15-20 minutes to cook.

Brush with ghee and cook another 2 minutes. Serve garnished with chaat masala onions
and the lemon and serve with green chutney.

Tomato shorba
Ingredients:
Tomatoes (medium size) 8no.
Water 3-1/2 cups
Butter1/2 tbsp
Black pepper powder1/4 tsp.
Red chilli powder1/4 tsp
Bay leaf and cumin powder1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Cream for garnishing2 tsp
Method:
Put the tomatoes in a saucepan with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until
tomatoes become tender. You can also pressure cook it (wait for 2 whistles and then
switch off the gas).
Make tomato puree in an electric blender. Add water and strain it to remove the seeds and
tomato skin.
Heat butter in a pan
Add black pepper powder, red chilli powder, bay leaf and cumin powder, ginger-garlic
paste and salt.
Add tomato puree, bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat
Serve hot. Garnish it with cream separately in each bowl .

Chicken Reshmi kabab

INGREDIENTS

Grind together
2 cups chicken keema
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fenugreek leaves or 2 tsp dried
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered black pepper
1/4 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
some oil for brushing

METHOD

Cover and refrigerate the meat mixture to marinate for at least 2hours.

About 25 minutes before serving, shape the meat mixture into long ‘tubes’ around the
skewers (seekhs) and place the kababs on to a grill over a drip tray, or into the pre-heated
oven (also on a drip tray). If cooking them over a charcoal grill, you will have to keep
rotating them so that they brown and cook evenly. They should take 10-15 minutes to
cook.

Brush them with oil and cook another 2 minutes.

Garnish with chaat masala, onions and the lemon and serve with a green chutney.

Naan

INGREDIENTS
4 cups refined flour
1 ¼ cups yoghurt
1 tsp baking soda
salt to taste
onion seeds for garnish

METHOD

Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Knead into a soft, smooth dough using as
much yoghurt as required.

Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm, draught-free place, till double in
volume. If in a hurry, place the container in a larger container of hot water. The time
taken for the dough to rise varies according to the weather - about 3 hours in summer and
7 hours in winter.

Punch the dough and leave to rise again. This time it will take much less time.

Break the dough into pieces of desirable size and smooth into rounds. Cover with a damp
cloth and keep for at least 15 minutes.

Roll the balls into flat ovals or rounds. You can also flatten them by slapping them
between your palm - as experts do, stretching and pulling with your hands when required.

Smear the surface with water and sprinkle with onion seeds. Grease a baking tray and
bake the naans in a pre-heated oven for about 5 minutes. Better still is to grill them, if
your grill has elements both above and below.

If you have a tandoor, wet one side of the naan with water and stick it to the walls of the
tandoor. You can also stick it to a hot griddle and turn the griddle upside down over the
flame. The naan will fall off when cooked.

Brush the hot naan with butter or ghee and serve

Malpua

INGREDIENTS

250 ml yoghurt
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp roasted fennel seeds
3-4 tbsp ghee/oil for frying

Syrup
200 gm sugar
200 ml water
rind of 1 sweet lime

METHOD

Combine yoghurt, flour and fennel seeds. Stir until a smooth batter is formed. Heat
ghee/oil in a pan and make dumplings by frying a spoonful of the batter at a time over a
gentle flame. Remove from the pan and drain.

Prepare the syrup with sugar, water and rind. Dip the malpuas into the syrup.

Garnish with sweet lime segments and cream. Decorate with silver leaf.
Serve hot/cold.
Menu -2

Murg Malai Tikka

Sabzi ka ras
Roomali Roti
Murg do pyaza
Phirni

INGREDIENTS

500 gm boneless chicken breasts - cut into cubes and pierced

1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 cup hung yogurt
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp dhania powder
1/4 tsp kali mirch - powdered
1 cup malai (clotted cream) or cream
melted ghee - to brush the kababs
lemon wedges and onion rings - for garnish

Method
Marinate the chicken in the garlic, ginger, yogurt, salt, garam masala, dhania powder,
black pepper and the cream for 2-3 hours or more.

Place a saucer in a dish and arrange the chicken over it in a circle. Cover and cook at Hi
for 5 minutes, turning once.

Cover and cook on Hi for another 3 minutes. Uncover and cook at Hi for 2 minutes.

Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving with onion rings and lemon wedges on the side.
Murg do pyaza

INGREDIENTS

1 kg chicken-skinned and cut into 8 pieces

¼ cup ghee
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
4 whole peppercorns
4 cloves
½ tsp fenugreek seeds-roasted and powdered
1 tsp fennel seeds- roasted and powdered
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 cup grated onions
½ cup yogurt
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2-3 green chillies-slit
2 cups onions-sliced a little thick
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves-to garnish

METHOD

Heat the ghee in a heavy-based saucepan, and add the cumin seeds, bay leaf, peppercorns,
cloves, powdered fenugreek and fennel seeds. When the seeds begin to splutter, add the
garlic and ginger paste and the onions.

Sauté over high heat till brown. Add the yogurt, stir-frying vigorously so that it blends
well and does not curdle. Cook till fat separates.

Add the garam masala, salt, turmeric, coriander and chilli powder.
Keeping the heat high, add the chicken pieces and stir till they look a little opaque and are
coated with the masala.
Lower the heat, uncover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the green chillies and
sliced onions.

Continue cooking over low heat, till the chicken is cooked through and fat separates.
Takes 10-15 minutes. The onions should be crunchy.

Serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander leaves.