Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu
Lucknow is unquestionably the food capital of Uttar Pradesh. Feted for its syncretism and genteel character, the city’s culinary culture has borrowed equally from the diverse mix of people that have long called this region home. While Muslims famously gave Lucknow its kebabs, qaliyas and qormas, the Yadavs, descendants of Krishna, are credited with introducing rich sweets. Chaat is a bequest of the Baniya or trading community, and it was the Kayasthas who taught how to roast and smoke its food. This eclectic ethos is what accounts for the mouthwatering persona that Lucknow, the erstwhile seat of the Nawabs of Awadh, embodies today. From wholesome breakfasts and lavish meals to street side snacks and delicious desserts, it is a veritable smorgasbord of tasty experiences.
A mélange of Indian, Persian and Mughlai food customs, Awadhi cuisine was elevated to an art form by refining further the best of these indigenous and foreign influences. The dum pukht style of sealed and simmered cooking over low flame is an artistry stemming from this cultural infusion. Galawat, the melt-in-mouth tenderising method, shaped the legendary galauti kebab, believed to have been prepared for a nawab with less than firm gums. Another bequeath is the kairi- or raw mango-enriched shaami kebab, a mince meat patty that Awadhi cuisine can claim entirely as its own. This happy union of meat and vegetables is replicated in the summery tali arvi ka salan (mutton and colocasia), and in the winter-special shab deg — turnip and meatballs stewed in aromatic Kashmiri spices.
Airy and poetically addressed pulaos — gulzar, nur, chameli — and chulaos (fried rice) incorporated vegetables and legumes, and the kathal kebab rivalled the shaami in both taste and texture. Awadh was, and Lucknow continues to be, renowned for leavened and unleavened breads cooked in underground clay ovens or griddles. They include ghee-doused paranthas, translucent roomalis, sweet saffron-flavoured shirmals and the grill-cooked multi-layered bakharkhani. Doing Lucknow proud also is its rich array of sweets: kheer, phirni, balai ke tukde (browned squares of sweetened cream) and several types of halwas. Of these, the crumbly jauzi halwa, made from dew-germinated wheat and milk, is edible heaven.
The affluent of yore vied with each other to conjure up and create complex dishes. As a result, rakabdars (chefs) were in much demand, greatly prized and came highly priced. One of whom was famed for shaping pistachios into lentils and almonds into rice to prepare an obviously nutty khichdi! Legends abound about entire meals, including tableware, being fashioned from sugar to outdo another’s craftsmanship. Following the banishing of the last nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, to Kolkata in 1856, many of these culinary magicians, having lost royal patronage, found work in the homes of the wealthy. Some of them set up shop in the city’s old bazaars and are still flocked to for their delicacies.
Yet others continued in the employ of appreciative patrons like the Mahmudabad family. Their palace is housed in a sprawling estate in Sitapur, an hour and a half’s drive from Lucknow. Thanks to a battery of long-in-the-know bawarchis (cooks) and rakabdars, they offer bespoke dining experiences handed down over generations. The elaborate recipes are family heirlooms and represent several centuries of culinary history. Should it interest you, a week’s notice is all it takes to tuck into their celebrated tale alu ka salan, murg massallam, kathal pulao and shahi tukda.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2Y7B4cd
via Today’s News Headlines
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