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| Matar Ka Nimona ~Indian State Uttar Pradesh |
Remember this song" Khaike Pan Banaraswala"
Where is Banaras? Yes in Uttar Pradesh! So let’s visit Uttar Pradesh today!
Uttar Pradesh, abbr. UP, is a state located in northern India. It was
created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces, and was renamed Uttar
Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the capital and Kanpur is the commercial capital and the
largest city of Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful
empires of ancient and medieval India, including Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Gurjara, Rashtrakuta, Pala and Mughal which many say was improved by the Nawabs of Awadh. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganga further east. The state has
several historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Piprahwa, Kaushambi, Kanpur, Ballia, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Allahabad, Budaun, Meerut and Mathura. It’s also the area of some of the
oldest existing cities of Budaun and Varanasi.
With this as the background
what will the food here be like? What are the cuisines here called?
Mughlai cuisine is a style of
cooking developed in the Indian
subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the
cooking styles used in North
India especially Uttar Pradesh. The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Persian cuisine of Iran, and has in turn
strongly similarities to the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region. Mughlai cuisine the tastes vary from extremely
mild to spicy, and is often associated with a distinctive aroma and
the taste of ground and whole spices.
Awadhi cuisine is from the city of Lucknow
the city of Nawabi Cuisines. The cooking is similar to those of Central Asia,
the Middle East, and Northern
India as well.
Awashi cuisine boasts of both vegetarian and
non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has
been greatly influenced by Mughal
cooking techniques and also the cooking from of Persia, Kashmir,
Punjab and Hyderabad.
The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to
the dum style of cooking or the art of cooking over a slow
fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of
elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh
cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients
used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.
So what is the
typical day-to-day traditional vegetarian meal of Uttar Pradesh, like any other
North Indian thali, consists of roti (flatbread), chawal, dal, sabji,
raita and papad. Many people
still drink the traditional drink chaach with meals. On festive occasions,
usually 'tava' (flat pan for roti) is considered inauspicious, and instead
fried foods are consumed. A typical festive thali consists of Puri, Kachauri,
sabji, pulav, papad, raita, salad and desserts (such as sewai or kheer).
Many communities
have their own particular style of cuisines, such as the Jains, Kayasths and
Muslims. Sweets occupy an important
place in the Hindu diet and are eaten at social ceremonies. People make
distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including khurchan,
peda, gulabjamun, petha, makkhan malai, and chamcham.
The chaat in Lucknow and Banarasi Paan is known
across India for its flavour and ingredients.
Given this
background what does one make for UP?
Vaishali to rescue….
