Secrets Of India's Royal Kitchens

We traverse through India to find out how the scions of royal families are working towards revival and preservation of the country’s food heritage that thrived in the past, but now face the threat of extinction.

- Chirag Mohanty Samal

AS I SIT ACROSS Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Rampur for a meal at the Kheer restaurant in Roseate House, Delhi, the aromas of Yakhni Pulao and Nargisi Kofta waft through the air, whetting up an appetite. While Khan’s personal chef cooks up signature dishes of Rampuri cuisine for the guests at the Kitchens of the King Food Festival, he fills me up with interesting details about his family’s food legacy.

Khan’s ancestors came from Afghanistan to Mughal India in 1704 and brought with them the Shinwari cuisine, which is till today found in frontier Pakistan. “The food then was hugely rice based, had lots of meat and was dry. There were no curries, we had pulaos, biryanis and kebabs like chapli, seekh, rann and shammi. In 1857, when the mutiny broke out in British India, many chefs from the Awadh region moved to Rampur and that is when the cuisine was modified. Gravies were added and we got our murg musallam, shreemal, and baqarkhani. Fish and chicken also came in with the Awadhi influence.”

Tales like these are evidence that royal food like their craft and culture is an equally precious heritage that needs to be preserved. It is this thought that prompted Anshu Khanna, the founder of Royal Fables to launch Kitchens of the King Festival, a food festival that showcases culinary heritage of erstwhile royal families. Khanna says, “Interestingly, the food that got served on their table was not regional but unique to their personal kitchens that women hailing from diverse cultures reigned over. There are also many an endearing kitchen tales of kings who loved their cuisine, maharanis who cooked splendid spreads and khansammas who only passed on recipes to their sons. Through the festival we are keeping this rich heritage alive.”