• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Rasheeda Bhagat

A food festival that recalled the lip-smacking indulgence of Awadh nawabs, who gorged on good food in between making moves at a game of chess.

Jahangir considered the best fish of all to be the rohu, a large river fish, which is still popular in India and Pakistan. Lettuce, green coriander and mint made up the favourite salad, and achar, a sharp-tasting pickle, was as popular then as it is today. Very little radish was eaten — `radish eater' was an insult, meaning idiot," notes Annemarie Schimmel in her book, The Empire of the Great Moghuls: History, art and culture.

That was in the 17th century. After the "sacking of Delhi in 1739, political and cultural developments of Muslim India occurred in the province of Awadh". A recent food festival — Shatranj ke Khiladi — at the Peshawri in Chennai's Chola Sheraton took patrons back to the period of Wajid Ali Shah, before the British exiled him in 1856. This period is also known for its shatranj ke khiladi (chess players). According to Master Chef K.M. Srinevasu, of Dumpukht Jolly Nabobs restaurant at Bangalore's Windsor Sheraton and Towers, who brought the Awadh food festival to Chennai, even as the Awadh nawabs played several rounds of chess, they gorged on good food.

"Between the various moves kabhi prawn aa gaya, bater (quail) aa gaya, machchi aa gayi ya kabab aa gaye. And mind you, in those days, food would be swimming in desi ghee and fresh cooking butter. The bread was nothing short of sheermal (which can be had in Lucknow or Hyderabad even today), made out of maida, ghee, sugar, jafran (saffron)."

But at the food festival at Peshawri, one saw no signs of abundant ghee or oil. Whether it was the fish cutlet, made of rohu cooked with fine spices in mustard oil, or Malai Quail, cooked in a gravy of chironjee, melon seeds, cashew nuts, and garnished with saffron and garam masala. Even the meat pulao or the dum pukht biryani was a sober affair when it came to oil content.

"People have become very health and calorie conscious, and don't like oily food, even though they like to experiment with different cuisines. So we have used low-calorie butter and cream; so the food is not that rich," says Srinevasu.

But when it comes to sheermal, "you can't compromise on the dalda or ghee content, and it has to be made in an iron tandoor." The softness of the bread was a giveaway, but the saffron in it was tempting enough.

As for the dum pukht biryani, he explained that it gets its delicate flavour from the fact that the rice is cooked separately and not in the mutton gravy (as is done for Hyderabadi biryani that is made of raw meat marinated in rich masala) and the spices are not added directly but in a potli (cloth pouch).

So compared to the spicy Hyderabadi version, the taste and flavour of dum pukht biryani is much more subtle and subdued, and is lapped up as well by westerners with delicate tummies!

"Awadh or Lucknowi food is very fragrant and sometimes even sweet, compared to Hyderabadi food which is very spicy," says the chef.

In the charcoal-roasted kabab category, the festival had on offer Khubab Country Captain (chicken kabab lightly spiced, marinated with garlic and herbs, and grilled on charcoal); Seik Kabab Curry, which the chef explained as the "Arabic influence on Awadh cuisine... it is minced meat marinated in yoghurt and spices, embellished with cheese, and then charcoal grilled"; and Poorie Kabab. "People are used to eating meat in bread, whether in burgers or hot dogs. But here, we packed layers of meat in poori, along with onions and tomatoes."

Touching upon Mughlai cuisine, Srinevasu said that the favourite meat of the Mughals was lamb. "There was no refrigeration in those days and they preserved their meats by marinating them. But most of the time, the Mughal rulers ate fresh meat. You would have the handi (vessel) ready on one side and nearby the kasai (butcher) would be cutting the lamb. Fresh mutton is not only much more tasty; it also cooks very fast. When we prepare Kashmiri delicacies like gustaba or tabak-marz, we go in for fresh mutton. After lamb, the Mughals ate a lot of quail, prawns and fish. They also ate venison and camel's meat."

Responding to the expression on one's face at this bit of information, he says, "You must try camel meat, it's very delicious; I have cooked it many times." He adds that in Awadh cuisine rohu is very popular "and being a sweet water fish with higher water content, whether you fry or boil it, it always remains soft."

During the Mughal/Awadh era, the palace cooks received royal patronage and were encouraged to create culinary masterpieces. "They took the art of cooking to unprecedented heights. Their recipes, which are closely guarded secrets, were passed down from generation to generation and became part of folklore," adds Srinevasu.

In comparison to the meats, the fare for vegetarians was subdued; mushrooms cooked with garlic, ginger, green chillies, Port wine, cream and Worcester sauce; Aloo Bhurta made of potatoes and capsicum and vegetable biryani and peas pulao summed it up. But then, the chef's hands were tied... one can hardly imagine that the Nawabs of Awadh used to dig into shahkari food with great gusto!

But vegetarians have something to fall back upon in the desserts: Tipsy Laird — Sherry and Drambuie enriched fruits and Vanilla sponge fingers covered in custard and cream; Gulati — a rice pudding with dry fruits; but the chef's recommendation was Magaz ki Kheer — made of melon seeds, khoya, ghee and milk cooked with dry dates, and garnished with almonds and saffron!

Picture by S.R. Raghunathan

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Flavours of shatranj

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line