The Royal Patiala Way

A long table decorated with oval, horizontal, pearl-embellished floral bouquets; dim lighting; the menu printed on a scroll; chic cutlery and glassware…the setting at Masala Bay, Taj Lands End in  Mumbai had royal opulence, yet retained a simple elegance that formed the essence of the royal Patiala meal served to us.  

Every dish on the four-course set menu, separate for vegetarians and non-vegetarians, put out by Chef Amninder Sandhu, was full of flavour be it the Mutton Yakhni Shorba, Kofta Roganjosh, Murg Kibiti, Mewadar Keema, Tumta Paneer, Gobi Creamwali or even the desserts of Shahi Phirni and Halwa Behzai. Except the mutton-based Teekkha Kebab, pungency didn’t overpower the taste of other ingredients, nor did the dishes have too many ingredients that they’d have to fight to stand out. 

“Our recipes are simple and generally have just four to five ingredients,” explains Rajkumari Sarvesh Kaur, who has never before shared the closely guarded recipes that were once prepared for lavish feasts hosted by her extravagant grandfather, the late Maharaja Bhupinder Singh. 

Badami Shorba, a simple nutty soup of rich almond milk, Bharwan Gucci or even Mutton Aloo Bukhara cooked in dried plum gravy may seem modern and even Western, but “dry and easy to carry, kumbh and the very expensive Gucci were always eaten by royalty. In fact, Gucci was very important at weddings,” says chef Sandhu revealing that the best Gucci comes from Kashmir. Reminiscing how there was nothing her grandfather couldn’t arrange, the Rajkumari adds, “We obtained butter and cheese from France, saffron from Spain and cardamom from Guatemala...” Just the kind of thing Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was known for. In 1922, he called for nearly 500-kg weighing, 1400-piece, George V gold and silver dinner service cutlery from London to honour the three-day visit of the Prince of Wales. 

Back to our meal, despite the cream and other rich ingredients, it wasn’t greasy and didn’t leave us with the heaviness one feels after eating  north Indian food outside. That’s because “the richness of our recipes comes from desi ghee, which is very nutritious if made from a grass-fed cow’s milk and we rarely use tomato puree, butter or the paste of nuts like cashews that form the base of most Punjabi dishes. It’s the plum that gave the gravy of Mutton Aloo Bhukara a lovely dark brown colour,” says Kaur. 

That’s not where the difference ends. Butter Chicken synonymous with Punjabi food doesn’t feature in the royal recipes!  “Butter chicken was first curated (sic) by Kundan Lal Gujral, the dynamic man behind Moti Mahal and soon took over the palates of many with its fiery zests. But it was never a part of Punjabi home-cooked food,” shares Chef Sandhu. Besides the royal lineage, these recipes also possibly differ from the usual Punjabi ones because until 1956, Patiala was a separate kingdom.

The secret of the family recipes lies in “the Patiala garam masala, the cut of meats, certain techniques, slow simmering, using angithis that allows the food to be cooked evenly and many such small things,” says Kaur, who often has cook offs with her brother – keeping their passion, knowledge and memories fresh.

For Chef Sandhu, who was given a national award for being India’s best lady chef last year, a great learning was “the significance of using challedar onions (chopped into thick rings) in recipes”. 

While these recipes were passed down the generations, Kaur inherited the passion for them from father Raja Bhalender Singh. “He cooked every evening and our doors were open to anyone who wanted to share a meal,” she recalls. This side of him may have surprised many who knew the Raja as a distinguished cricketer, for his prowess in several sports and as head of the Indian Olympic Association. “He would carry his culinary set of heavy copper vessels even when he travelled,” adds Kaur, who grew up with a kitchen of 100 staff and “no concept of daily (regular) meals; everyday is a special ocassion for us”. 

Today the recipes, which total to 1,100, still exist in the original handwritten form, some in English, some in Punjabi and some even in Urdu. 

The Rajkumari has plan to do another pop-up, but six months later the family will put out a coffee table book of 150 select recipes with photos of the food, family and grandeur. “It’s a way of spreading good food; everyone should have the choice of cooking it”.