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Relish food of the kings

Royal repast Paneer ka soola, sheermal and much more by Chef Abdul Haleem Qureshi

The Nawabs sure had the good life, at least cuisine-wise. To borrow a cliché, the Lucknowi food festival at Abad Plaza bears testimony to this indisputable fact. Chef Abdul Haleem Qureshi whips up quite a feast, sure to make us plebs feel Nawabi.

Chef Qureshi belongs to a long line of ‘khandaani’ chefs, and the food festivals are his attempt to popularise Lucknowi cuisine. “The profusion of fast food joints and ready-to-cook meals, several dishes and the recipes are lost. I am making an effort to preserve a form that will vanish,” he says. He mentions dishes such as ‘safder’ and ‘zamindoz machli’. All the talk about the flavours and colours of the food of the nobles (aka royalty) perks curiosity and the taste buds too.

And then comes the ‘Galouti Kabab’, this kebab is king! If you have wondered about what “it melts in the mouth” means, all you need is a bite of ‘Galouti kebab’ (mutton). Not just that there are no overpowering masalas to numb the taste buds, there is the hint of the flavour of kewra. The kebabs are so smooth, and then the truth is told that the meat is ground till it is smooth and then made into kebabs. Just as we say a thank-you to the inventor of kebabs, specifically galouti, come the ‘Murg tikka mirza hasnu’ and ‘Paneer ka soola’. The chicken tikka is what a tikka should be, done right and the ‘paneer ka soola’ too is. The starters are proving to be quite the feast. It is all about the flavours, as Chef Qureshi had prepared us.

So the food of the kings is supposed to be rich (fattening), right? “No, the richness is in terms of the flavours not the ghee or the nuts. Though we too have the rich variety.”

That would be left to the deliciously sinful main course comprising ‘Paneer Lazzadar’, ‘Tala Aloo Salaam’, ‘Gobi Mussallam’, ‘Subzi Pancharathna’ and ‘Baingan Ka Salan’. Definitely an education for those who thought that Awadhi cuisine is loaded with meats.

There are the meats as well, ‘Nihari gosht’ and ‘Mahi korma’ (fish). One can’t help but coming back to the flavours, “spices are used but strained so that one does not bite the whole spices. For instance, Hyderabadi cuisine uses a lot of whole spices which are used as such but our cuisine is not that,” says Chef Qureshi. Then comes the bread or roti with a twist, sheermal. Paean worthy is what it is. It is a thick roti loaded with ghee ( but not one bit oily) and saffron on the top and baked in the tandoor.

Talking of flavours, one comes back to the starters, ‘Moong dal ke shami kebab’ to deserve special mention. The harmless looking starter belies its looks. One bite and it is fire all the way. Green chillies! But so what…

There are the desserts such as Shahi tukde, sherin jarda and sevai ka muzzafir to put out the fire….

The festival is on till July 13, buffet dinner, and is priced at Rs. 350.

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