We traverse through India to find out how the scions of royal families are working towards revival and preservation of the country’s food heritage and cuisine that thrived in the past, but now face the threat of extinction.
As I sit across Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Rampur for a meal at the Kheer restaurant in Roseate House, Delhi, the aromas of Yakhni Pulao and Nargisi Kofta waft through the air, whetting up an appetite. While Khan’s personal chef cooks up signature dishes of Rampuri cuisine for the guests at the Kitchens of the King Food Festival, he fills me up with interesting details about his family’s food legacy.
Khan’s ancestors came from Afghanistan to Mughal India in 1704 and brought with them the Shinwari cuisine, which is till today found in frontier Pakistan. “The food then was hugely rice based, had lots of meat and was dry. There were no curries, we had pulaos, biryanis and kebabs like chapli, seekh, rann and shammi. In 1857, when the mutiny broke out in British India, many chefs from the Awadh region moved to Rampur and that is when the cuisine was modified. Gravies were added and we got our murg musallam, shreemal, and baqarkhani. Fish and chicken also came in with the Awadhi influence.”
Tales like these are evidence that royal cuisine like their craft and culture is an equally precious heritage that needs to be preserved. It is this thought that prompted Anshu Khanna, the founder of Royal Fables to launch Kitchens of the King Festival, a food festival that showcases culinary heritage of erstwhile royal families. Khanna says, “Interestingly, the food that got served on their table was not regional but unique to their personal kitchens that women hailing from diverse cultures reigned over. There are also many endearing kitchen tales of kings who loved their cuisine, maharanis who cooked splendid spreads, and khansammas who only passed on recipes to their sons. Through the festival, we are keeping this rich heritage alive.”
Flavours of Royal Cuisines
Each of the cuisines come with their own distinctive traits shaped by the cultural, political, religious and societal affiliations of the erstwhile ruling royal families. Shailaja Katoch, princess of Sailana, who is married into the royal family of Kangra says, “Sailana cuisine is a collection of recipes from various royal families of India. The process of slowly cooking a dish in handis, kadai, etc., and on coal burners called sigdi gave the dishes a distinctive taste.”
Like slow cooking techniques lent Sailana cuisine its distinctive taste, the vessels used in cooking make Bhainsrorgarh’s food unique. Kunwar Hemendra Singh of the royal family of Bhainsrorgarh says, “We always use copper, brass or terracotta utensils for cooking. Pit roasting is still being done here.” The food also draws a lot of its character from the flora and fauna of its surroundings. “Abundance of water brings in a variety of fish. The forest cover brought in a lot of game meat resulting in a variety of barbeque and curries.
Local ingredients like maize, which is the main food grain of this area add in many dishes like Makki Ka Soyta, a wholesome meal comprising corn kernels, meat and spices. Makki Ke Meethe Kann, a dessert made of grated corn and Makki Ki Roti obviously is a staple.” The royal cuisines were an ever-evolving craft with many innovations being added to age-old recipes through matrimonial alliances. These unions brought about more variety from different regions the bride hailed from.
Prince Richard Holkar, the direct descendant of Ahilyabai Holkar, the queen of the erstwhile kingdom of Malwa, reveals that besides the technique, what made a meal memorable in his household was the way it was served—the lavish table layout, the crockery, cutlery and the entire service around a meal. “Our meals were always served on silver thalis and katoris. One of the nicest parts of the whole meal was the end where the waiters dressed in angrakhas, dupatta and pagri, came along with a silver vessel and jug and we washed our hands in these. And we dried our hands on fine, cotton dhotis,” recounts Holkar.
Preservation of the Food Heritage
Many of these recipes of yore face a threat of extinction due to their inaccessibility to a larger audience. The Raza Library at Rampur Palace has thousands of recipes documented in manuscripts but they are all written in Persian. Khan shows concern that unless translated these may get lost. And translating them isn’t easy as in those days there were no standard measurement units, royal cooks used approximate amounts out of practice.
Other royal scions share this concern too and it isn’t surprising that the closely guarded culinary stories and secrets of royal kitchens are being opened up through recipe books, food festivals, Instagram and YouTube channels. The Holkar family published its cookbook Cooking of the Maharajas: The Royal Recipes of India, in 1975 and almost 50 years later, the book has now been relaunched as a limited series, and Ahilya Fort Heritage Hotel also did a series of ‘Cooking of the Maharajas’ culinary experiences.
Likewise, Sailana recipes were improvised by Katoch’s grandfather Raja Digvijay Singhji and compiled in a book Cooking Delight of the Maharajas.
Related: Cooking Age-old Royal Recipes With The Maharajas Of Maheshwar
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