Tabir Kalam
Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University
With the decline of the Mughal Empire and the emergence of new political centres, the Awadh court gradually began to assert its own distinct cultural and political identity. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the rulers of Awadh created a full-fledged court and capital at Lucknow, which rivalled and even surpassed the Mughal capital for its political pretensions and the wealth and vitality of its artistic worlds. The rulers enriched and generously patronised the most prominent and artistic luminaries of the Mughal Empire and thus strove earnestly to elevate the Awadh court as the cultural centre of north India. The cultural elite at the Awadh court both cultivated the existing forms of court life and also created new schools of culinary tradition, poetry, music, dance, drama and art. The Awadh cuisine has been influenced by the Mughal cuisine, however, it is known for its dum cooking style. Dishes such as kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis and warqi parathas are specialties of this cuisine. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies in its ingredients, such as mutton and paneer, and rich spices, such as cardamom and saffron.
This paper will examine the distinct features of Awadh cuisine, its individuality and identity, and its variations as these developed from time to time. This paper will also address in what ways the Awadh cuisine is different from the Mughal cuisine and the cuisine of other regional kingdoms of the period.
(Presented in the 2012 Asian Food Heritage Forum: Harmonizing Culture , Technology and Industry, 20-21 August 2012, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Chinese Dietary Culture Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Ministry of Culture, Thailand)