Mouth-watering kebabs, scented biryani, and fluffy, cloud-like desserts.
The northern Indian city of Lucknow has long been a food lovers' paradise, with residents and travelers alike swearing by its remarkable cuisine.
Worldwide Recognition
Recently, UNESCO honored it as a UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy – including it in a select list of global cities and igniting hopes that it will showcase Lucknow's peerless food. With this title, it enters a international community of more than four hundred cities across over 100 countries dedicated to promoting "creativity as a driver of sustainable urban development".
The honor "is a testament to its profound culinary traditions and dynamic gastronomic culture," according to a official from UNESCO's regional bureau for South Asia.
Lucknow is merely the second Indian city – after Hyderabad, which was chosen in 2019 – to secure a position in this highly sought-after list of seventy urban centers internationally.
An Urban Center with a Culinary Soul
The honor for this venerable city arrives as hardly a shock to its inhabitants or avid food lovers. Many echo the opinion that it is "an honor long overdue".
With the UNESCO accolade, this beloved, chaotic, and eclectic city – the capital of India's biggest state – is at last in the limelight for what has always defined its soul: an immense love for food.
"'The day's menu, how will it be cooked' is a constant dialogue from waking up until going to bed in most homes," explains a local cultural expert. "And you are actually assessed by the excellence of food that is produced in your kitchen."
A Heritage of Nawabi Cuisine
The City of Nawabs – as it's popularly called after its historic wealthy Muslim rulers – is renowned for its succulent kebabs and a singular take on biryani that were invented, evolved, and taken to extraordinary levels in their opulent kitchens.
These kitchens of the nobility were centers of culinary innovations, fusing Persian and indigenous Indian styles to create what became known as the food of Awadh.
It was in this era that Lucknow's iconic kebabs were developed. As the tale is told that the galouti kebab was devised to feed an ageing nawab who had no longer had his teeth. His chefs ground the meat with raw papaya, saffron, and spices and made it so soft that it required no chewing.
But perhaps the greatest contribution of the chefs of Awadh was the slow-cooking Dum pukht technique, where food is cooked on a gentle, leisurely heat, with the pot's lid tightly closed with dough.
Beyond Kebabs and Biryani
In addition to the famous kebabs and biryani, the cooks also developed a collection of dishes that included kormas (creamy curries), sheermal (saffron-infused flatbread), and shahi tukda (a sweet bread pudding).
However, Lucknow is not just about kebabs and biryani – the region is additionally a vegetarian's paradise.
The local Baniya community's cuisine doesn't just highlights seasonal produce but also provides the city its meticulously prepared Indian desserts, sweets, and distinctive street food, like chaat – spicy fried snacks.
Time-Tested Food Joints
Nearly on every corner, there are tiny kiosks and carts – hidden treasures that are immensely popular with the locals.
In the central district of Hazratganj, huge crowds start milling around from 5 am at a famous tea stall to get a piping hot cup of spiced tea with milk, offered in earthenware cups, along with fluffy buns lathered with hand-churned white butter.
To start the day, one can head to a simple joint situated in the historic quarter of Aminabad. Nearly 150 years after it was founded, the place is still in great demand for its freshly fried kachoris (fried bread stuffed with lentils) and jalebis (crispy, syrup-soaked sweets).
Preserving Tradition for the Future
The city also boasts unique seasonal delights, such as makkhan malai, a frothy dessert savored in the winter. The process of making it is precise and complicated. The artisan whisks the milk and then leaves it out at night, allowing the dew to give it its amazing frothy texture.
On chilly mornings, street vendors can be seen in old city areas like Aminabad and Chowk. A number of however say that their younger generation are reluctant to take up the skill.
A celebrity chef from Lucknow has often said that the city's immense food legacy places it among the best of the Indian street food experience. The real value from the UNESCO recognition, however, will be realized only if Lucknow can now build recognition about its lesser-known eateries.
Every dish in Lucknow tells a story – shaped by generational food businesses, from modest street carts to bustling restaurants, and guarded family recipes.
The worldwide honor, it is anticipated, will motivate more people worldwide to learn these tales and experience the city to delight in the food wonders of Lucknow.
