History glosses over vegetarian fare, spreading the common misconception that it was thought unfit for a Mughal emperor’s table. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Humayun counted the bland mixture of lentil and rice—khichdi—among his favourite dishes. Akbar grew vegetables in a kitchen garden irrigated with rose water for extra flavour. The devout Aurangzeb was vegetarian most of his life, favouring a vegetarian biryani known as Qubooli.
“There were three types of dastarkhwan (meal settings) enjoyed by the Mughals. One with a selection of numerous meat dishes, the second was the Sufiyani dastarkhwan laid in honour of the Sufi saints that contained no meat, spices, ginger or garlic, and a third kind for subzis and tarkaris, ensuring there were equal proportions of vegetarian dishes at every meal,” shares Osama Jalali, food historian and consultant.
As a dynasty of displaced settlers that travelled to India from the Central Asian region, the Mughals were influenced by a variety of cultures. Their food, style of dress, way of speaking and mannerism initially drew inspiration from Iranian, Afghan, and Persian courts, before assimilating Kashmiri, Punjabi, Rajasthani and eventually Deccan traditions into their way of life. The process of transition over the years is a history lesson on its own. Babur sorely missed the fresh meat and fruits of his native Samarkand, belittling local Indian fare in his autobiography. Humayun’s Iranian wife introduced unique flavours and fruity sherbets to the Mughal table. Akbar’s numerous Indian alliances cemented the use of local dishes in Mughal cuisine, and Shah Jahan’s chefs brought in the indigenous spices used today.
Akbar’s wife Jodha Bai is credited with popularising the Panchmel Dal in a primarily non-vegetarian Mughal kitchen. This nutritious and flavourful mix of five lentils is believed to have been popular as it offered plenty of room for creativity.
The Mughal’s penchant for milk products led to the innovation of a number of dishes, of which Paneer ke Angoori Kofte is a prime example. These soft balls of cottage cheese would be made richer with a stuffing of lauki and khoya. Jalali refers to other popular vegetarian dishes like the Kathal ke Kabab, soft grilled patties of jackfruit, and Arbi ka Salan, taro root curry, as staple fare on special occasions. However, the most famous of these is the Navratan Korma, a rich curry made with nine vegetables cooked in a sauce of cashews and cream.
No exposition of vegetarian Mughal food is complete without the mention of its many desserts. Sweets like kulfi, sheer korma, zarda, and firni, all originated in the Mughal kitchen. However, the shahi tukda is most firmly associated with this cuisine. Shares Scotland-based writer Pamela Timms, author of Korma, Kheer and Kismet, “The creamy, sugary smell of this most indulgent of desserts is reminiscent of the smell of Christmas at home. With its splashes of saffron and silver leaf, the shahi tukda is one of the best reminders of Mughal origins of Delhi’s street food.”
SHAHI ZARDA
No shahi dastarkhwan or wedding is complete without the zarda – Osama Jalali
Ingredients
✥ 1kg basmati rice
✥ 250 ml ghee or oil
✥ 5 green cardamoms
✥ 250 ml saffron soaked in warm water
✥ 50 grams almonds
✥ 50 gram cashews
✥ 20 gram raisin
✥ 100 gram tutti fruity made with watermelon peel
✥ 250 grams sugar
Method
✥ Boil water in heavy bottom pan and add saffron water to it
✥ Add soaked rice to the water and cook till it absorbs saffron colour
✥ Once rice is cooked 80 percent, strain it and keep aside
✥ In another pan add sugar, cardamoms and a cup of water and cook till sugar dissolves
✥ Lace a big pan/degchi with ghee/oil, add the sugar mixture and layer with rice
✥ Cover the lid and let it cook slowly on dum for 15 minutes
✥ Open the lid and add tutti fruity and nuts as garnish and serve
As a food reviewer and historian, Osama Jalali was aware of the increasing replacement of Indian food traditions with Western trends. Worried that our old school recipes would die, he began researching the subject. “I turned to old libraries such as the Rampur Raza and scoured books written in Persian,” he shares. This led to a multi-book deal with Om Books. He is currently working on Lost Recipes of India, Biryani, 100 Kababs of India, and Sufi Kitchen, which delve into the vegetarian traditions of Islamic cuisine. “All Mughal kings were disciples of one Sufi saint or another, and served vegetarian langar,” says Jalali.
The pandemic led him to launch his own food venture with his mother, fondly called Ammi Jalali, and wife Nazia Khan. The Mughal Plate by Jalali’s is a cloud kitchen, whose dishes include rare recipes unearthed over a decade of research, along with recipes from the Rampur and Purani Dilli gharanas. Jalali lends a hand with the cooking, and promotes the business on his popular social media pages @themughalplate. “Recreating old recipes requires work. It’s difficult to capture original flavours with modern kitchen equipment and tough to source original ingredients, but I’m grateful to have this platform,” he says. For orders: 8076192715.