Unique cuisines of the blue-blooded & common man

During the times of Nawabs, the lavishly laid table on the white crisp tablecloth sometimes had 70 types of ‘pulaos’ and other small dishes to be savoured with ‘nazakat’ and ‘nafasat’.

The knowledge of ‘hakims’ was not for show off. Their in-depth knowledge of gastronomy and subtle sense of flavours reflected in exotic dishes of the times of Nawabs.

The procedure of cooking ‘moti pulao’ was intricate where silver and gold leaves were mixed with ‘rawa’ and stuffed into the neck of the chicken, and then wound with string. They used to shimmer like pearls when released before serving.

‘Aloo ki bukhara’ (dried Bukhara plums) were used to flavour the sauce. It was given a beautiful hue for the exotic ‘roghan josh’.

‘Lookmi’ was a riddle dish which was in the shape of an egg, the outer portion made of ‘rawa’. When eaten, it was as soft as butter.

There was ‘ananas ka paratha’ which had 24 crisp layers with a hint of pineapple flavour.

As mentioned by CA Bayly in ‘Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars’ the food of Awadh had Persian influence due to which it had less spices and smoother consistency as chewing was against the etiquette of Nawabs.

Multiple straining came from French cooking methods since the country’s officials were present in the courts of Awadh.

However, there is uniqueness to Lucknow’s food since there is an intimate connection between the royals and the food that was ‘gifted’ during religious occasions (tabaruk which was similar to prasad) among the people.

‘Shirmal’, which is common in the bylanes of Chowk has a story. The folklore says the bread cook – Mahumdu made ‘shirmal’ delicious in terms of taste, scent and lightness. In happiness, he ran to the Nawab, who tore off a bit of it.

It became a signature shape of ‘shirmal’ since then – a round ‘shirmal’ with a half moon bite torn off. This bread is mass produced and used as ‘tabaruk’ especially during Muharrum, the mourning period of the Shias.

The food of the aristocracy reaches to the masses and in the same way kulche-nihari eaten by labourers before going to work, finds place in the houses of the affluent as well.

THE FOLKLORE SAYS THE BREAD COOK – MAHUMDU MADE ‘SHIRMAL’ DELICIOUS IN TERMS OF TASTE, SCENT AND LIGHTNESS.

Shirmal being prepared and (above) Lakhnavi biryani