As wheat is the staple food of the state, breads are very significant.Breads are generally flat breads; only a few varieties are raised breads. Tawa roti is bread made on crude iron pans. Improvisations of the roti (or bread) are of different types and made in various ways and include the rumaali roti, tandoori roti, naan (baked in a tandoor), Kulcha, lachha paratha, sheermaal and baqarkhani.

Breads made of other grains have descriptive names only, thus we have Makai ki roti, Jowar ki roti (barley flour roti), Bajre ki roti (bajra is a grain only grown in India), chawal-ki-Roti (roti of rice flour).

Chapati is the most popular roti in India, eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Puri are small and deep fried so they puff up.
Paratha is a common roti variant stuffed with fillings of vegetables, pulses, cottage cheese, and even mince meat and fried in ghee or clarified butter. This heavy and scrumptious round bread finds its way to the breakfast tables of millions.
Roomali Roti is an elaborately prepared ultra thin bread made on a large, convex metal pan from finely ground wheat flour. The Urdu word rumaali literally means a kerchief.

Tandoori Roti is a relatively thick bread that ranges from elastic to crispy consistency, baked in a cylindrical earthen oven. The Urdu word tandoor means an oven.

Naan is a thick bread, softer and richer in texture and consistency than the tandoori roti. It is made from finely ground wheat flour kneaded into a very elastic mass. This bread is prepared with a rich mixture of cream, sugar, wheat flour, butter, and essence.
Sheermaal is a sweetened Naan made out of Maida (All-purpose flour), leavened with yeast, baked in a Tandoor or oven. It typically accompanies aromatic quorma (gravied chicken or mutton). Originally, it was made just like Roti. The warm water in the recipe for Roti was replaced with warm milk sweetened with sugar and flavored with saffron. Today, restaurants make it like a Naan and the final product resembles Danish pastry.

Baquerkhani is an elaborate variation of the sheer-maal that is fried on a griddle rather than baked in a tandoor.

Korma,Qorma and Traditiona authentic Pulao and Biryani

Korma is actually the Indian name for the technique of braising meat. It originated in the lavish Moghul cuisine wherein lamb or chicken was braised in velvety, spiced sauces, enriched with ground nuts, cream and butter. While kormas are rich, they are also mild, containing little or no cayenne or chillies There are both vegetarian(navratan korma) and non-vegetarian(chicken, lamb, beef & fish korma) varieties of korma. Murgh Awadhi Korma is a classic from Lucknow.

Kaliya is a mutton preparation with gravy along with the compulsory inclusion of turmeric or saffron.

Biryani derives from the Persian word Birian, which means "roasted before cooking." Biryani is a mixture of basmati rice, meat, vegetables, yogurt, and spices. Lucknow biryani or awadh airyani is a form of pukki biryani. Pukki means "cooked." Both meat and rice are cooked separately, then layered and baked. The process also lives up to the name biryani in the Persian meaning "fry before cooking'.It has three steps. First, the meat is seared in ghee and cooked in water with warm aromatic spices till tender. The meat broth is drained. Second, the rice is lightly fried in Ghee, and cooked in the meat broth from the previous step. Third, cooked meat and cooked rice are layered in a handi. Sweet flavors are added. The handi is sealed and cooked over low heat. The result is a perfectly cooked meat, rice, and a homogenous flavor of aromatic meat broth, aromatic spices and sweet flavors.

Among various Biryani the Lucknow and Hyderabad style are dominant, with a friendly rivalry. Chitrita Banerji a Bengali writer in her book Eating India: exploring a nation’s cuisine in an inevitable comparison between Awadhi and Hyderabadi biriyani, picked the Awadhi version as the winner.

The vegetarian version of biryani might have some Textured vegetable protein based protein balls to present the impression of a meat-based dish for vegetarians.

The difference between biryani and pullao is that pullao is made by cooking the meat in ghee with warm aromatic spices until the meat is tender, then adding rice and cooking in the sealed pot over low heat till done—but with biryani, the rice is boiled or parboiled separately in spiced water and then layered with meat curry or marinade (depending on the type of biryani), then sealed and cooked over low heat until done.

Tehri is the name given to the vegetarian version of the dish and is very popular in Indian homes.

Wow its yummy Prepration of Kebabs is very much famous in India as well as in the rest of the European and Asain Countries

Kebab's are the integral part of Awadhi. Lucknow is proud of its kebabs. There are several varieties of popular kebabs in Awadhi cuisine viz. Kakori Kebabs, Galawat ke Kebabs, Shami Kebabs, Boti Kebabs, Patili-ke-Kebabs, Ghutwa Kebabs and Seekh Kebabs are among the known varieties.

The kebabs of Awadhi cuisine are distinct from the kebabs of Punjab insofar as Awadhi kebabs are grilled on a chula and sometimes in a skillet as opposed to grilled in a tandoor in Punjab. Awadhi kebabs are also called "chula" kebabs whereas the kebabs of Punjab are called "tandoori" kebabs.

The Seekh Kebab has long been considered a piece de resistance in the Awadhi dastarkhwan. Introduced by the Mughals it was originally prepared from beef mince on skewers and cooked on charcoal fire. Now lamb mince is preferred for its soft texture.

The 100-year old Tunde Ke Kebab in Chowk is the most famous outlet for Kababs even today Tunde kabab is so named because it was the specialty of a one-armed chef. The tunde kabab claims to be unique because of the zealously guarded family secret recipe for the masala (home made spices), prepared by women in the family. It is said to incorporate 160 spices.

Kakori kabab is considered blessed since it was originally made in the place by the same name in the dargah of Hazrat Shah Abi Ahder Sahib with divine blessings. The mince for the kabab comes from the raan ki machhli (tendon of the leg of mutton) other ingredients include khoya, white pepperm and a mix of powdered spices that remains secret.

Shami kebab is made from mince meat, with usually with chopped onion, coriander, and green chillies added. The kebabs are round patties filled with spicy mix and tangy raw green man. The best time to have them is May, when mangoes are young. When mangoes are not in season, kamrakh or karonda may be substituted for kairi, as both having a tart flavour reminiscent of the raw mango.

A variant made without any admixture or binding agents and comprising just the minced meat and the spices is the Galawat kabab.

An unusual offering is the Pasanda Kebab, piccata of lamb marinated and then saucteed on a griddle.

Boti kebab is lamb marinated in yoghurt and skewered, then well cooked. Traditionally, Boti Kebab (Lamb) is cooked in a clay oven called a tandoor. You can achieve an authentic tandoor flavor using your own barbecue grill.

Vegetarian kebabs include Dalcha Kebab, Kathal ke Kebab, Arbi ke Kebab, Rajma Galoti Kebab (kidney bean kebab cooked with aromatic herbs), Zamikand ke Kebab (Lucknowi yam kebabs), etc.

The Awadhi/Lucknow dastarkhwan would not be complete unless it had the following dishes.

The Awadhi/Lucknow dastarkhwan would not be complete unless it had the following dishes.

• Qorma (braised meat in thick gravy),
• salan (a gravy dish of meat or vegetable),
• qeema (minced meat),
• kababs (pounded meat fried or roasted over a charcoal fire),
• food coloring
• lamb
• pasinda (fried slivers of very tender meat, usually kid, in gravy)
• fresh cake mix
• Rice is cooked with meat in the form of a pulao,Chulao (fried rice) or served plain.

There would also be a variety of rotis.

Desserts comprise     

kheer (milk sweetened and boiled with whole rice to a thick consistency),

sheer brunj, (a rich, sweet rice dish boiled in milk),firni

The menu changes with the seasons and with the festival that marks the month. The severity of winters is fought with rich food. Paye (trotters) are cooked overnight over a slow fire and the shorba (thick gravy) eaten with naans. Turnips are also cooked overnight with meat koftas and kidneys and had for lunch. This dish is called shab degh and a very popular in Lucknow. The former taluqdar of Jeghangirdar would serve it to his friends on several occasions during winter.

Birds like Partridge and quail are had from the advent of winter since they are heat giving meats. Fish is relished from the advent of winter till spring. It is avoided in the rainy season. In Awadh river fish are preferred particularly rahu (Crap), fish kababs (cooked in mustard oil) are preferred.

peas are the most sought after vegetable in Awadh. One can spot peas in salan, qeema, pulao or just fried plain.

Spring (Sawan) is celebrated with pakwan (crisp snacks), phulkis (besan pakoras in salan), puri-kababs and birahis (paratha stuffed with mashed dal) khandoi (steamed balls of dal in a salan), laute paute (gram flour pancakes—rolled, sliced, and served in a salan), and colocasia-leaf cutlets served with salan add variety. In summer, raw mangoes cooked in semolina and jaggery or sugar, make a dessert called curamba. These dishes come from the rural Hindu population of Awadh.

Activity in the kitchen increases with the approach of festivals. During Ramzan, the month of fasting, the cooks and women of the house are busy throughout the day preparing the iftari (the meal eaten at the end of the day’s fast), not only for the family but for friends and the poor. Id is celebrated with varieties of siwaiyan (vermicelli). Muzzaffar is a favourite in Lucknow. Shab-e-barat is looked forward to for its halwas, particularly of semolina and gram flour. Khichra or haleem, a mixture of dals, wheat and meat, cooked together, is had during Muharm, since it signifies a sad state of mind.

Some dishes appear and disappear from the Lucknow dastarkhwan seasonally, and others are a permanent feature, like qorma, chapatti, and roomali roti. The test of a good chapatti is that you should be able to see the sky through it. The dough should be very loose and is left in a lagan (deep broad vessel) filled with water for half an hour before the chapattis are made.

Sheermals were invented by mamdoo bawarchi more than one and a half century ago. They are saffron covered parathas made from a dough of flour mixed with milk and ghee and baked in iron tandoors. No other city produces sheermals like Lucknow does and the festive dastarkhwan is not complete without it. Saffron is used to flavour sweets too.

Utensils are made of iron or copper. Meat kababs are cooked in a mahi tawa (large, round shallow pan), using a kafgir—a flat, long handled ladle—to turning kababs and parathas. Bone china plates and dishes have been used in Lucknow since the time of Nawabs. Water was normally sipped from copper or silver kato ras and not glasses. The seating arrangement, while eating was always on the floor where beautifully embroidered dastarkhwans were spread on dares and chandnis (white sheets). Sometimes this arrangement was made on a takht or low wide wooden table.

Awadhi Food Fest

Awadhi Cuisine

Awadhi cuisine

Awadhi cuisine (Hindi: अवधी खाना, Urdu: اودھی کھانا) is from the city of Lucknow, which is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh in Central-South Asia and Northern India, and the cooking patterns of the city are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India as well. The cuisine consists of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad; and the city is known for Nawabi foods.

The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to the dum style of cooking or the art of cooking over a slow fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.

Awadhi dastarkhwan

Dastarkhwan, a Persian term, literally means a meticulously laid-out ceremonial dining spread. It is customary in Awadh to sit around and share the Dastarkhwan. Laden with the finest and the most varied repertoire of the khansamas (chefs), the Dastarkhwan of the raeis (the rich) were called Khasa (special).