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Indian · regional cuisine

Awadhi (Lucknow) and Uttar Pradesh

The refined court cooking of the Nawabs of Awadh (dum pukht, melting kebabs, delicate kormas and biryani) alongside the vegetarian and sweet traditions of Banaras, Mathura and the rest of Uttar Pradesh.

Flavour character: Subtle and aromatic rather than hot: cardamom, mace, saffron, kewra and rose water, fried onion (birista), yoghurt and cream; meat cooked until meltingly tender. Banarasi and Braj food is sattvic, ghee-rich and sweet.

4 recipes
Delicious aromatic meatball curry with potatoes and herbs in a white bowl on a table.

History

The Nawabs of Awadh ruled from Faizabad and, from 1775, Lucknow, until the British annexed the state in 1856. Their kitchens (bawarchikhana) refined Mughal cooking with subtle spicing, kewra and rose, and slow sealed-pot dum cooking. Dum pukht is commonly linked to food cooked in sealed pots for workers building the Bara Imambara during the famine of 1784 under Asaf-ud-Daula. Galouti kebab is said to have been made for a toothless nawab; Lucknow's Tunday Kababi, opened in 1905, is famous for it. After annexation, Wajid Ali Shah took his cooks to Kolkata. Elsewhere in the state, the Braj region (Mathura, Vrindavan) and Banaras have rich vegetarian and sweet traditions linked to temples.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

Geography and influences

The fertile Ganga–Yamuna plain (doab): wheat, rice, sugarcane, pulses and dairy, with major cities Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra and Allahabad (Prayagraj).

  • Mughal and Persian court cooking
  • Nawabs of Awadh
  • Hindu temple cooking of Braj and Banaras
  • Kayastha community cooking
  • Rampur and Rohilla courts

Regional variations

Lucknow (Awadhi court)
Dum pukht, galouti and kakori kebabs, korma, pukki biryani with layered cooked meat and rice.
Rampur
Rampuri cuisine of the Rohilla nawabs: distinct kormas, taar gosht, doodhiya biryani.
Banaras (Varanasi)
Kachori-sabzi breakfasts, malaiyo, Banarasi paan, thandai, sattvic temple food.
Braj (Mathura, Vrindavan) and Agra
Pedha, makhan and milk sweets linked to Krishna worship; Agra petha.
Western UP and Kayastha cooking
Meat-eating Hindu Kayastha households with their own kebabs and kormas; bedmi puri breakfasts.

Festive and seasonal food

  • Eid: sheer khurma and sewaiyan, biryani and kebabs
  • Holi: gujiya, thandai, dahi vada and kanji
  • Janmashtami in Braj: makhan-mishri, panjiri and chappan bhog
  • Winter mornings: makhan malai (Lucknow) or malaiyo (Varanasi), a dew-set milk foam

Signature dishes

Not on the site yet: Galouti kebab, Kakori kebab, Lucknowi (Awadhi) biryani, Mutton korma, Nihari-kulcha, Shahi tukda, Makhan malai / malaiyo, Banarasi kachori-sabzi, Agra petha, Mathura pedha, Bedmi puri, Tehri

Awadhi (Lucknow) and Uttar Pradesh recipes