Secrets of the palace kitchens

The only way one could partake of the fare during the times of the nawabs and their cuisine traditions was to work at being able to
digest it all, for the rich royal fare was luxurious as it was heavy to eat.

“Think 20 kilo chapatis with only badam flour in them,” says chef Mujeeb Ur Rehman of Hyatt Regency who has worked with khansamas (cooks) whose ancestors were part of the royal  kitchen of Rampur.  

“The nawabs were great connoisseur of all fine things in life, their food followed the principle. “Today when you talk of
Lucknowi fare, only dum style of cooking comes to mind but there’s more to it.”

Even a simple accompaniment like the roti was elaborate in preparation. “Can you imagine a huge 20 kilo roti with a generous amount of ghee? That was the usual fare,” he informs. A
specialty, the Nihari Gosht (gravy with lamb stock) was considered a breakfast dish as it was nutritious.

“So many places have their own way of making Nihari but the Lucknowi style was unique — with the addition of mustard oil, turmeric and brown onion. Another instance he gives is of the Avadhi-style boneless korma that was made with saffron. “Now we use dryfruits for garnishing but back then food was cooked with generous amounts of the same.

And for the Dal Sultani (with arhar dal) a gram of kesar and 1/4th the quantity of ghee was used. The dal was boiled in milk, never water and slow cooked to perfection, all dishes reflecting the ideology of the time,” he adds.

Other hush-hush methods:

When the khansamas made dal preparations they first sauteed the onions with virgin gold coins, they when they were to add the next ingredients they removed those coins and added a fresh new set to the dish and would remove the coins before serving.

We all know the silver leaf is used for garnishing, but the initially if the head chef felt there would be any danger to food if an imposter was around, they would use these sheets to seal the vessels in order to protect the food. Over the years this practice has evolved making silver/gold sheets for garnishing.