H-M synthesis: How Mughals influenced Indian cuisine

by Guest Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:46 pm

When Babur invaded India he brought not just the simple grilled meats of Central Asia, but also a love of fruits and sophisticated food habits picked up in his conquests of great cities like Samarkand.

His son Humayun, while exiled to Persia by Sher Shah Suri, picked up cooking traditions such as carefully constructed rice-based pilaus and the use of fruits and nuts in meat stews. Marriage to Rajput princesses added Indian vegetarian traditions:

Akbar started abstaining from meat twice a week, then for months at a time, and the use of beef was discouraged to allow him to eat with his Rajput allies. Jehangir famously fell for a rich dried fruit and nut enriched khichidi of Gujarat called lazizan, which became one of his favourite foods. The wealth of the Mughals attracted traders from across the Islamic world, then the Portuguese and English, all bringing new foods and ingredients such as the chillies that Zafar liked.

Less often realised is the Mughal influence on the use of onions in Indian food. Onions were well known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, but find no mention in the Vedas and Upanishads.

By the 7th century AD a Chinese traveller noted that onions were known in India, but not favoured much. Yet today a rise in their prices shakes governments. The change seems to have happened with the Mughals, with the ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ noting much use of onions with meat dishes, such as dopiaza with its onions used twice.

This might reflect the influence of the larger Islamic world. In Ziryab, Farouk Mardam-Bey’s excellent collection of essays on Arab cuisine, he refers to Morocco and India as the great “onion heavens”. Many Moroccan tagines (stews) start with a base of caramelised onions; add ginger and garlic and you have the standard Mughlai base.

The fall of Delhi ended the Mughal influence, but not that of Mughlai food. Where the Mughals at their height gathered together traditions, in their decline they dispersed them. Breakaway kingdoms developed Mughlai traditions in new directions, most notably in Avadh and Hyderabad, but also places like Bhopal and Calcutta.

http://jhovaan.blogspot.com/2006/11/mughal-flavor-in-indian-food.html

by Guest Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:56 am

Panchmel dal was such a big hit with Mughal royalty that by the time Shah Jahan took over the throne, the court had its own shahi panchmel dal recipe. It also held a place of pride on the dining table of Aurangzeb who, being a strict vegetarian, fancied the dish more than the roast meat dishes that found favour with his uncles and brothers,

Food historians also believe that the panchmel dal may have been born out of the necessity to create a different tasting dal for the royal meal every day – changing the combinations of dal and the tempering ensured that the dal tasted different every time!

Interestingly, there is another legend about the origin of panchmel dal. Apparently, the first mention of this dal is made in the Mahabharata — while hiding out as a cook in King Virat’s kitchen, Bhim created the first panchratna dal by slow-cooking the mix of five dals in an earthen pot and garnishing it with a generous dollop of ghee.

Much like his great grandfather Akbar, Murad was very fond of Rajasthani toor dal and ordered his cooks to create something as light yet delightful as his favourite dal.

It was during these attempts that a cook accidentally discovered that cooking moong dal on slow flame can result in a dish that is slightly sweet, velvety and just as flavourful as toor dal. He served it in a bowl made of dried betel nut leaf with a garnish of amchur, onions and green chillies. The prince is said to have liked it so much that he snacked on it three times a day. And thus Moradabadi dal was born.

Incidentally, what hasn’t changed is that even today, this dish is more of a snack than a part of the main course and is served with a variety of garnish, much like how the cook introduced the dish to Murad!

http://www.thebetterindia.com/92642/food-history-dal-lentils-india/

H-M synthesis: How Mughals influenced Indian cuisine

H-M synthesis: How Mughals influenced Indian cuisine

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