This awadhi culinary fest brings you sinful dishes straight from the royal kitchen

We might have taken over their seats of opulence -- their palaces and forts and massive cars and jewellery. But even the extravagance of the grandest star hotels cannot match up to the lives and the lifestyles of the erstwhile Nawabs.u00a0


Aloo bukhara aur gosht ka quarma

It's not often that us mere mortals get a taste of what they ate. Especially if the cuisine comes from the erstwhile Nawabi state of Awadh which is seeped in history and has been prepared by a bawarchi whose predecessors whipped up those delicacies for the royalty of Awadh.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

Raising the tempo
I started it slowly, with kebabs like Mahi tikka (barbecued fish) and the vegetarian Shikampoori kebab which was made of stuffed cottage cheese. Delicious. Time to raise the tempo. The main course was a buffet spread of a wide number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies. I went for Achari tinda (white gourd cooked in pickle spices)and badami kofta quarma (cottage cheese and almond dumplings in quarma gravy).

I have never had the courage to try tinda before, but I got so hooked to this one that I actually went for a second helping. Ditto with the kofta. The cottage cheese was fresh and though the food was rich, it wasn't laden with oil and spices as is generally the case with such cuisines. The chef also told me that none of the spices were readymade, off-the-shelf types. Rather they were all hand pound and pasted in the kitchen itself. Sounded quite exclusive.u00a0