Wholesome spicy treat

Experience the flavours of Lucknowi cuisine at The Residency Towers

August 01, 2014 06:39 pm | Updated 06:39 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Galauti kebab Photo: Hari Shanker R.

Galauti kebab Photo: Hari Shanker R.

The cuisine from Lucknow is as famous as the historic city itself. Having heard many accounts about the richness of the Awadhi cuisine from my gastronome friends, I ventured out to a Lucknowi Food Festival at The Hotel Residency Tower with a rumbling tummy.

“Heavily influenced by Mughal cooking, cuisines from Lucknow are renowned for the abundant use of spices such as cardamom and saffron,” explains Sanoj Somasekhar, Executive Sous Chef at the hotel. “We have brought together an array of the choicest dishes, including popular recipes such as kebabs, tikkas and rotis for the festival,” he says. “To ensure the quality and authenticity of our food, we have actually sourced our spices from Uttar Pradesh,” he adds.

I take a seat with a beautiful view of the city at the ‘Punjabi Dhaba’ restaurant on the rooftop of the hotel, where the fete is being held. A friendly waiter brings me a welcome drink, which is the ‘Meetha Chaas’, I’m told. Quickly finishing the drink, I pore over the menu to choose my dishes for the evening.

I was spoilt for choice with the number of dishes available – mostly non-vegetarian ones. The non-vegetarian starter dishes included Stuffed murgh lal mirchi tikka (mirchi-flavoured chicken breast stuffed with minced chicken and nuts) and Galauti kebab (Kebabs, in which minced lamb pieces are cooked with spices on a girdle) among others. The menu featured dishes such as Bharwan shahi paneer tikka and Hare mutter ki shikampuri (green peas stuffed with cheese and flavoured in fenugreek) for the vegetarians.

The main course offered a variety of breads and biriyanis. Murgh baltee (curry flavoured with boneless pieces of chicken cooked with grounded garam masala) along with Nalli nihari gosht (a mutton dish prepared with nihari masala) were some of the noted non-vegetarian side dishes. Veggies could choose from dishes such as ‘Khum Palak Methi’ (Button mushrooms tempered with fenugreek) and Dum aloo Lucknowi (Potato mixed with cheese, milk and nuts). The number of desserts, however, were less with Sewain ka muzaffar (roasted vermicelli cooked in sugar syrup) and Jalebi rabdi being some of the key items on the menu.

I started off with the Sorba-e-barkush, an aromatic lamb soup. The well-seasoned soup offered a sizzling start to my meal, with me relishing the taste of each lamb dumpling as I slowly sipped and chewed on my soup.

For starters, I decided to have Stuffed murgh lal mirchi tikka along with the Galauti kebab. The former was my favourite dish of the day. The presence of nuts and minced chicken gave a unique taste to the dish which made it delectable. I could not resist having a few more pieces of the same. The kebabs turned out to be soft and succulent.

The Mughlai paratha along with Murgh baltee and Nalli nihari gosht came next. Stuffed with egg and cheese, the mughlai paratha proved to be a hearty combination when eaten along with the Murgh baltee. The soft boneless chicken pieces of the Murgh baltee were a treat to my taste buds. The Nalli nihari gosht also proved to be flavoursome.

Having had a veritable feast of a meal, I decided to do away with the dessert and concluded an unforgettable Lucknowi dining experience with a glass of lime juice.

The Lucknowi Food Festival is on till August 10. Time: 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

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