Best food in India: why Lucknow dishes still have a taste of royalty and where to find the best biryani
Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh was once home to rulers called nawabs, who were renowned for their love of luxury and food. The royal cooks made inventive and subtle dishes, including the city’s famous slow-cooked biryani
A large closed degh (cauldron) sits on burning coal as steam wafts through its sides. The sun blazes down mercilessly at high noon. But the heat doesn’t matter to the patrons visiting Idrees Biryani Restaurant, acclaimed for its mutton biryani.
I am in Lucknow, the capital of the largest and most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh, and looking for its delicacies. The city is renowned for its nawabs (rulers), shababs (courtesans) and kebabs.
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Lucknow is part of the province of Awadh, or Oudh as it was called by the British. Awadhi cuisine was enjoyed by its nawabs, giving it a touch of royalty. The nawabs were primarily the governors of Awadh, which was under the control of the Mughal dynasty until the early 18th century.
When the Mughal power lessened after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the early 18th century, the Nawab of Awadh took complete control of the province. Nawab Asaf-Ud-Daula shifted the capital from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775.
This brought about a wave of transformation and prose, poetry, art, crafts, culture and cuisine flourished. Artists, craftsmen and chefs moved from Delhi, the seat of the Mughal empire, to Lucknow. The city became known for nazakat (elegance), nafasat (grace) and tehzeeb (etiquette).
It is here that the dumpukht (slow cooking in a sealed container over a very low flame) method of cooking originated, and gave rise to Awadhi dum biryani. Biryani is said to have originated in Central Asia and is derived from the Persian word birinj, meaning rice.