Royals in India, from the nawabs of Awadh and Rampur, the Mughals in Delhi or the nizams of Hyderabad shared a love for rich good food, apart from engaging in the usual conquests and wars and spent a lot of money and resources to be well fed themselves and ensure that their armies are never kept hungry. The Deccani version of the biryani is also rumoured to have been a creation during a war campaign, when a royal kitchen decided to add the meats and spices to boiling rice, creating the aromatic spicy biriyani.
In an attempt to celebrate the taste of the royal cuisine, from Punjab and Rampur in the North to Hyderabad in the South, the Oberoi is organising R ivaayat , a food festival. It will be on till April 5 for dinner. At a tasting menu, we started with portions of the popular old Delhi delicacy, the tangy aloo tikki, potatoes patties deep fried and served with an array of sauces, with slices of ginger and onions thrown in the mix.
This sweet and spicy preparation served as an excellent starter. It was followed by portions of the ghee rich haleem, served during the month of Ramzan. Made of minced meat and wheat porridge, the haleem was full of flavour with the crispy onion helping whetting the appetite more. We also munched on a helping of the spice lathered seekh kabab, made famous in the kitchens of Rampur, a small town, which boasted of a rich political and culinary history.
We moved on to the taar gosht, a mutton preparation cooked with oodles of ghee, in a brown, onion gravy. The soft mutton pieces, the light tang of the spices and the multitude of flavours it brings manage to outstrip the effects of the calories it brings alongside. Pindi Chole, a spicy chickpea preparation found in Delhi also tastes authentic. If you thought that the royals did not care much about seafood, the tangy mahi kaliyan, fish cooked in sesame, tamarind and peanut gravy is a must try. If vegetarian is what you prefer, the thick gravy and ghee rich mirchi ka saalan, made of non-spicy long chillies is a great option. These preparations taste best with the sweet sheermal from the kitchens of the nawabs of Awadh and the soft Khameeri rotis, baked in the same manner as like the original in Old Delhi.
We finish this sinful meal with portions of gulathi, milk pudding with rice and coconut and the popular Khubani ka Meetha from Hyderabad, wondering how royals could go to battle after such stupendous meals.
