Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Live
A blessing in disguise for ‘kebab’ maker
Legend has it that in the late 19th century, when Lucknow was still not the capital of Awadh, a local aristocrat Nawab Syed Mohammad Haider Kazmi threw a party during the mango season, as was the tradition, for his British friend.
As luck would have it, a British official made a snide remark about the coarse texture of ‘seekh kebabs’. Incensed by this insult, the Nawab summoned his ‘rakabdars’, ‘hakims’ and ‘attars’ the next day and asked them to evolve a more refined variety of ‘seekh kebab’.
Ten days of extensive research and experimentation resulted in the now famous ‘Kakori kebabs’, the softest and finest version of ‘seekh kebabs’. The secret was the use of ‘Malihabadi’’ mangoes to make the meat tender. The new version of ‘seekh kebab’ met with great applause and since then Kakori became famous by the word of mouth. Even today, though cooked elsewhere, these are known as ‘Kakori kebabs’.
As a popular folklore in the bylanes of old Lucknow, it was Haji Murad Ali, one of the finest chefs of the time, who got the consistency right.
Ali, who was working on perfecting the mixture of ‘shahi galawat’, fell off the roof and broke his arm. The injury didn’t stop him from working on the ‘kebab’. After a year-and-a-half Ali discovered what his one arm could do – pound the meat dough into such fine paste that it would melt in the mouth, and would take on the clove ‘dum’ really well. He also introduced a certain amount of fat to make ‘kebabs’ tastier.
The famous ghee roast became popular with this ‘kebab’.
It was presented at the Nawab’s ‘dastarkhwan’ the next day and when the Nawab asked who created it, he was told it was ‘Tundey ke kebab’ (‘kebabs’ made by a man having one arm). Ali was made the head of the ‘kebab’ segment and he started employing one-armed men to pound the flesh. That is how the concept of ‘Tundey ke kebab’ finally emerged.
To be continued...
TEN DAYS OF EXTENSIVE RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTA-TION RESULTED IN THE NOW FAMOUS ‘KAKORI KEBABS’, THE SOFTEST AND FINEST VERSION OF ‘SEEKH KEBABS’.