CUISINE
From the tables of the Mughals
SYEDA FARIDA
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Y. Masihuddin Tucy, a fifth generation descendant of the last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar and now a food consultant to the ITC group, has brought to the table signature dishes that revive the forgotten aromas and cuisines of the royalty.
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‘Much of the literature on the cuisine was not documented in the critical period between 1857 and 1950. I have worked hard to preserve the cuisine. It needs extensive R&D.’
Photo: G. Krishnaswamy
Inheriting a vibrant legacy: Kebabs and Kurries
Much before European settlers landed on the Indian shores with their basket of breads, new world potatoes and tomatoes, there were the Central Asian rulers who brought along kebabs and the rest of the grilled “sojourn food” that has become the staple for many today. Cuisine on the move for the caravan or laskhar came to Delhi and soon took the shape of a unique gourmet system that employed about 300 chefs in its Lal Quile ka khana form patronised by Akbar and Jehangir.
So, the sought after succulent grilled and robust kebab platter is thus the a la carte avatar of what used to be the Chughtai mahal ka khana and a fruit of elaborate research and painstaking work. Who would know it better than Y. Masihuddin Tucy, the fifth generation descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar and now a food consultant with ITC group, which he joined as musheer or advisor in 1990.
“Most of the cuisine in those days was preserved ‘Lashkari’ food. It was food cooked without water, also called kasa hua khana or safri khana (travel), such as the talawa gosht today. In fact ‘Lashkari’ cuisine can be called a fast food — food for people on the move,” he says.
Vegetarian variants
Vegetarian variants of the kebabs have their origin in the kitchens of Akbar and Jehangir, says Tucy, when the madbakht (central kitchen) was told to come up with vegetarian arbi ka korma for the Begum. Begumati dopyaza, that was prepared for the zenana in the palaces, and which is now on the menu, still has whiffs of nobility in its presentation and subtle flavour.
Tucy is credited with the revival of the forgotten cuisine of the Red Fort. “The Lal Quila recipes were a part of the Khwan-e-Zafar, he says. The kebab was made on a special stone sang-e-sattar. The same technique is followed for patthar ka gosht today. Then there were Kashgar kebab — minced meat held in shikanja or clasp made with an aromatic cane and baked over coal and the Uzbeki Tatari kebab that needed a similar grand affair.
Y. Masihuddin Tucy .
“Much of the literature on the cuisine was not documented in the critical period between 1857 and 1950. I have worked hard to preserve the cuisine. It needs extensive R&D,” he says.
A visit to Uzbekistan to attend the celebrations to mark the 500th centenary of Babar in Tashkent turned out to be a chance trip for Tucy to get in touch with his culinary heritage, and thus to research on the family cuisine. He left his job in the Gulf, only to return and be a part of the team that put together recipes for the ‘Qalia, Korma and Salan’ do or the 101 kebabs extravaganza at Maurya Sheraton Delhi in 2002.
Signature dishes
As a vital consultant at their Kebabs and Kurries — a retro chic, slate stone and metal ode to a collection of recipes not less than “500 years old put together by a team of food consultants”— he is elementary in documenting the Central Asian cuisine through his signature dishes.
Tucy plans to introduce Gulezar biryani prepared with expensive flowers sourced from the valleys of Himalayas as also the Turani biryani with tukh me sang — a healthful herb, at the midnight biryani do in ITC Kakatiya Hyderabad soon. “Even the Nizam was a foodie. He had the naan as the symbol for his flag!” Lashkari food travelled to Deccan through Aurangabad, reflects Tucy.
“In 1857 during ghadar, Bahadur Shah Zafar’s son Mirza Khoyash escaped to Aurangabad. My maternal grandfather Mirza Pyare was the third generation of Zafar from this lineage. My mother Begum Sahiba Laila Umhani is over 90 years. She is proficient in music, tabla and piano,” he speaks matter-of-factly.
A resident of Hyderabad, he rues, “Now my children don’t get the Taimuria scholarship given by Endowments to the erstwhile royalty. We used to receive it earlier.” Not so long ago, a documentary featured Y. Masihuddin Tucy as one of the many faces buying a ticket to see the Red Fort. But this Mughal definitely has more to offer from his little dossier on the royal cuisine.
May his tribe grow.
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