Delhi’s Mughlai cuisine goes back 500 years though the history of West Asian non-veg dishes dates to the 12th century when the Sultanate came into being. Even now if you travel through the narrow gullies of Old Delhi you will find that there is much more on offer than just chaat. The ninth edition of the Dilli 6 Food Festival at Okhla gave us a taste of delicacies from the reigns of the Tomars, Sultans, Mughals and the British to Punjabi, Baniya and Kayastha cuisine. There was a lavish buffet spread of 80-plus dishes every day at the festival. Named after the pin code of the Walled City, the annual festival hosted as “Edesia” at Crowne Plaza took one through a culinary tour of Delhi spanning through time, dynasties and generations.
According to Chef Swaminandan, “The old city shares an intimate relationship with food across the dynasties which have ruled the mainland: the Pandavas, Tomars, Mughals and British. The food at Purani Dilli is sumptuously garnished with culinary secrets that have been passed down through generations to make Delhi the food capital of the country.”
What a menu awaited us at the festival: Subz-E-Zar, Mahi Subz Posh, Bibi Maryam-ki-Roti, Naan-E-Pista, Sarai-ki-Gosht Biryani, Jahangiri Qorma, Mian-ki-Halim, Prithvi Murgh-ka-Salan, Gosht Lagan Mela, Sunehri Tinda Moti, Nimone-ki-Dal, Matar Paneer Neze, Bharta Telai, Dil Bahar Do Piaza and so many more dishes.
The iconic Paranthe Wali Gali was also recreated for guests to experience the deep-fried, golden paranthas stuffed with delicious fillings. From mooli,mirchi, nimbu, gobhi, methi, and matar, to papad , mix veg, and mewa stuffing, you name it and it was there, besides the street food: Matra Kulcha, Aloo Tikki, Golguppa, Dahi Bhalle, Aloo-Puri, Chole Bhature, and Samosa.
Then there were desserts like Gali Dariba-ki-Jalebi, Feroze-ka-Habshi Halwa, Shafiq Kheer Wale-ki-Kheer, Chaina Ram-ka-Karachi Halwa, Kuremal- ki-Matka Kulfi, Daulat-ki-Chaat, More Lala-ka-Kada Doodh and Fatehpuri Lachcha Rabri. If you could eat a 36-inch Parantha in a stipulated time you won a free hotel stay, said Ranjan Banerjee, the manager who hails from Meerut and brings a whiff of the famous kababs with him.
Going beyond the festival it’s worth retelling that in the 14th century, Amir Khusrau wrote that the meal-spread (Dastarkhan) of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq consisted of about 200 dishes. The royal kitchen fed 20,000 people daily. In his epic poem, that later came to be known as Mathnavi dar Sifat-e-Delhi on Delhi culture, Khusrau stated: “The royal feast included Sherbet Labgir, Naan-e-tanduri, Sambusak, pulao and halwa ’. They drank wine and ate Tambul (betel leaf) after dinner. Khusrau also mentions delicious dishes such as sparrow and quail curry.
The Moorish traveller Ibn Battuta describes a royal meal at the table of Muhammad’s father, Sultan Ghiyasuddin at Tughlaqabad, as a lavish spread comprising thin round bread cakes; large slabs of sheep mutton; round dough cakes made with ghee and stuffed with almond paste and honey; meat cooked with onions and ginger; rice with chicken topping.
In addition, there was sambusak, triangular pastries made of hashed meat with almonds, walnuts, pistachios, onions and spices placed inside a piece of thin bread fried in ghee, much like the samosa of today. Sweet cakes and sweetmeat made dessert and the meal ended with paan.
As per author Sadia Dehlvi, in the 12th century, Sultans, who belonged to the warrior clans of Central Asia, had to be satisfied with food that was more about survival than sophistication. “The refinement in their cuisine came through interaction with Indian communities and the abundance of fruits, vegetables and spices available here.
The tables of Qutbuddin Aibak, Iltutmish and Razia Sultan consisted of meat dishes, dairy products, fresh fruits and local vegetables before Firoz Shah’s Kotla began to be haunted by jinns.”
The arrivals of the Mughals in the 16th century added more aroma and colour to Delhi’s culinary range. However, the founder of the dynasty, Babar, complained about the lack of musk-melons, grapes and other fruits plentiful in his Afghan homeland. His son, Humayun, is credited with bringing refined Persian influence to Delhi’s cuisine after years spent in exile in Persia, following his defeat by Sher Shah Suri.
The fusion of Indian and Persian styles of cooking came to be known as “Mughal cuisine”. In Ain-i-Akbari, Abul Fazl, Emperor Akbar’s courtier, says that cooks from Persia and various parts of India would serve in the royal kitchen. This led to the merging of Turkish, Afghan, Indian, and Persian styles of cooking. Abul Fazl states that more than 400 cooks from Persia formed the large kitchen establishment that had head cooks, official tasters, and numerous other staff.
He talks of rice from different regions, duck and waterfowl from Kashmir and special breeds of chicken raised for banquets, handfed with pellets flavoured with saffron and rosewater. Beef was rarely eaten, and pork was forbidden. During the rule of Shah Jahan, the cuisine became more refined and continued as such up to the time of the last emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. A sample of this wide variety of food was available at the Dilli 6 festival.
