Lucknow offers some super amazing delicacies. The old time Awadh offers numerous vegetarian recipes which are delicious and mouthwatering. And since, its also the city of Nawabs, the Non vegetarian dishes are equally delicious if not more. With all my respect to my vegetarian friends, the non vegetarian food from Lucknow is one of the main reasons why people still visit.
I remember visiting Lucknow with my parents in 2002 and tasting the super yummy Tunde kebab and awesome Biryani. Too bad, we were just there for 2 days and I am sure there was a lot to discover in the food section. Please do try the Lucknowi Biryani and Lucknowi Tunde kebab recipe too.
Nevertheless, from what we tasted, it was like a party in our mouth. One of the best things we tried were Tangdi Kebab and with a lot of research and trial and errors, I was able to get what I had tasted.
This dish fairly easy and the cooking process isn’t that tough to follow so, if you are a newbie, this should be a good one to try.
As a kid, Delhi was like second home to me. I hail from Rajasthan and having my maternal family from U.K., we always were either travelling or having family over and Delhi had the closest international airport. Even besides that, there were numerous reasons for visiting Delhi.
Now, if you have ever been to Delhi, you know its a food heaven and if you want to taste delicious non vegetarian food, Jama Masjid is the place. Wonderful restaurants with hot steaming food, kebabs, curries and Biryanis served with pillow soft naans.
The funny part is that many of those restaurants have opened their chains in New Delhi or other areas but the food tastes best when you visit Jama Masjid. I think its my love for the crowd and those hustling markets and the sound of Rickshaw driver yelling that connects to my childhood and memories of going to Jama Masjid with my father and enjoying the food at those restaurants, makes me relive those days and therefore, I still prefer going to puraani Dilli or Old Delhi.
This recipe is one of my favorite kebabs from Jama Masjid. I could never get the recipe of the original kebabs but through experimenting with flavors, I cracked the recipe and remembered my childhood flavor. A recipe worth trying.
Peshawar is an ancient city in Pakistan. Over the centuries, Peshawar was ruled by Mughals and then by British giving it the unique historical traditions and culture.
Peshawar is an old walled city and has rich culinary tradition. It has a famous place called “Namak Mandi” which has nothing to do with selling salt but serves variety of delectable foods. Known for using minimum spices and sometimes just salt, Namak Mandi dishes are char grilled or made in Kadhai. Not just that, the dishes are also popular for retaining the original flavors of the main ingredient. So, the first rule to make any Peshawari dish is to make sure that the main ingredient does not lose its taste and the spices added only work towards enhancing its flavor.
All along Peshawari kebabs are lip smacking delicious, easy to make and for some reason remind you of those awesome street foods in metro cities of India.
This recipe of chutney is something you might never find in a restaurant. Its my family recipe, that I grew on.
Chutney is usually taken as a very ordinary dish and we never realize that a good or bad chutney can make our food taste better or spoil the flavor. Chutneys in Indian household is taken casually and its funny but we never realize what an amazing variety of chutneys are served on our tables. I believe even our moms never realized how many they make and serve.
Nevertheless, this recipe comes from my mother. She doesn’t even remember what inspired her to make it but whatever it was, this chutney is one of the best ones and goes really well with Kebabs.
This recipe of chicken kebabs comes from the era of Mughals. I know, most all kebabs do. Kebabs are a gift to the food world by the Middle East. The variety, the flavors and the fact that they are grilled in different ways can leave your taste buds joyful and crave for more.
I believe for a fact that when the Mongolians and the Persians rulers came to India, it wasn’t an invasion. I know during that era it does look like an invasion because all the wars were for power and land and the greed to appear mightier and stronger than other rulers always seemed to drive warriors crazy where they seemed to be baffled by the prosperity of the neighboring kingdoms and invasion seemed to be the only way to satisfy your hunger for more. But, leaving all that aside, the Mughals brought in a lot of architectural science, spices and methods of cooking. They came to settle and make India more diverse and that’s what I fail to see in Indian news today.
I am proud to be an Indian, a country where friendship and mutual respect comes much before religion. Where Eid is celebrated with as much love as Diwali. Where Hindus are always at your house on Eid to taste awesome Biryani and your mom makes sure she cooks vegetarian food separately for your 2 vegetarian friends. Where stories of Jodha Akbar is less of Akbar, the Emperor who invaded India and more of the love between a Mughal Emperor and a Rajput Queen. India a country, that proves its a place accepting all religions and stands tall with its cultural heritage.
With all that, food plays a very important role. The spices like cinnamom, cloves, cardamom and saffron changed the complete look of flavors and when mixed with Indian chilies, the result was food from Paradise.
This recipe goes back to the era of Jahangir / Saleem and the story that I read said that he had a great knowledge of spices and had the chefs prepare dishes according to his taste. This recipe comes in as one of his favorites.
Now, with the history books I read, I do get an idea of the ingredients but they aren’t a 100% of what were used in the original recipe. Therefore, these recipes are mine but they should be close to what the original food must have tasted. Each recipe that I share can have common ingredients, but they are completely different for each other. The only way you can find out is by trying.
I first tried something like this in 2009 when we took a trip to Agra. The Mughal Sheraton was just not a super cozy and comfortable hotel but also the chefs there served amazing delicacies and this dish was one of those that I tried.
The first look at the dish makes you feel that it must be somewhere close to Tandoori chicken but its only when you taste it, is when you realize that both dishes are not even faintly close and share no resemblance in taste. While Tandoori is all spice and cooked on grill, this dish contains corn starch and is pan or tava fried.
The funny coincidence is that 2 years after we visited Agra is when I finally got down to trying this dish and funny enough, I do not remember the original name of the dish. This is pretty close to what we have tasted but then again this is my version and recipe. My friends and family always loved it and so I am sharing what is different and a truly fantastic recipe.
I love serving dry kebabs as side dishes with our dinner and its hard to not experiment and not come up with new recipes. After all, I am mother to boys who have energy that drives me crazy and the fact that they love looking forward to new dishes on the table and not forgetting, the born carnivores, and with genes of Mughals. All these traits makes it mandatory for a mom to come up with new recipes of non vegetarian food.
Spices mixed up differently with chicken/ meat gives out super fab and completely distinct flavor. This recipe is quick, flavorful and is sure to impress those with a great taste buds.
I lived in Jordan for 2 years. One of the dishes that I loved the most was Shwarema. Now, Shwarema is popular in the whole middle east or middle eastern restaurants but there is a huge difference between Shawaremas from different countries are very different from each other. Where Shwarema from Dubai or Saudi is filled in pita, Shwarema from Jordan is filled in a thin roti kind of bread.
The best part was that the Shwarema had some garlic sauce in between and was served with pickled olives and cucumbers. It would be soft, juicy, mildly spicy and flavorful….so tried making what I liked. It tastes very close to the original Jordanian Shwarema and if you are like me and want more flavor from the chicken then the bread, this dish is for you.
This is great for kids, the flavor isn’t too strong that they can’t handle. Makes a great wrap for school/office lunch, or a picnic roll. It tastes great even when it has cooled off so you don’t have to worry about it not tasting too good when eaten later.
This is a lovely side dish that goes well with dal-chawal. I love the flavor of kasoori methi with chicken and therefore, you will see it finding its place in a lot of my recipes. The fact is that even a spoon enhances the flavor of the dish and brings out the flavor of the spices as well.
These kebabs are easy to make, little crunchy on the side since we add a little corn starch to it, soft from the inside thanks to the yoghurt and absolutely flavorful. If you are looking to impress guests or just have a little fast track kebab on the side at your dinner table, this is your go to dish.
Its an easy one to make so if you are a new cook, try this one.
As the name suggests, this recipe is from the era of Mughals and I believe must have been a favorite of Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, made by Noorjahan Begum, thus named after her. Going through history, its amazing to read of how different ingredients were introduced at different times. Like spices or khada Masala, like cinnamon, bay leaves or cardamoms and cloves were never a part of the Indian cuisine and were brought in by the Mughals when they migrated to India. I believe there has been no other clan unlike the Mughals who not only brought in so much with them but also adapted the cultures of India and settled with the people and built families.
Where the spices were brought in by the Mughals, India already had food enhancing flavors like Turmeric, red chilies, coriander etc. Mixed together, the food that came out was super amazing like this kebab or a lot Biryanis that I share on this website.
The super amazing cuisines that we taste at so many restaurants today have been fusion dishes of the old era which apparently weren’t recorded under the term “fusion”. The acceptance of a culture, embracing the traditions, values and flavors and giving the best of what we have does not only result in super new flavors but also becomes a part of our cuisines for the coming generations . For me reading history about a dish is as fascinating as trying to cook a dish.
