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A Taste of India: Kebabs
Kebabs in Lucknow are a gourmet's delight and one of the city's favorite dishes
By: Angela Cobban
The best kebabs in the world are said to come from Lucknow, India. Lucknow has, indeed, earned such a reputation for kabas that it is often called the city of kababs.
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Here it has been the traditional business of a few families, who have in fact stuck to their unique way of making both veg and non-veg kebabs. And the best known kebab shop of all is the tunde ke kabab shop in Chowk (ask any concierge or taxi driver for the exact location).
Lucknow was previously called Avadh, and its cuisine today is known as Avadh or Awadh. It all started with the Nawabs of Avadh. The very word conjures up images of affluence and opulence. Images of a time of gracious living where the culinary arts were at their most evolved. The highest recommendation a chef could have was that he belonged to Avadh, the birthplace of some of the finest food in the land.
The first Nawab of Avadh was Saadat Khan, who ruled from 1722-1739. The last Nawab was Wajid Ali Shah, who was crowned in 1847 and ruled until 1856, when Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of the British East India Company, turned Avadh into part of the British territory in India.
The Nawabs of Avadh were an indulgent lot and had always craved the best foods even when old and toothless. This led to the innovation of one of the most celebrated kebabs of the day, the Shahi Gilawat ka Kebab, reputed to be so tender that even a toothless person could eat it without difficulty. The meat is ground over 30 times and the resulting patty is said to contain over a hundred aromatic and digestive spices that are supposed to ensure continued health and well being.
Although the word kebab, or kabab, is derived from the Persian ('kum' is less, and 'aab' is water), so this is a dish cooked with less water), the kebab in many forms is a well-established tradition in India. Among the best-known kebabs from Lucknow today are Nukti kabab, Pasanda kabab, Meena kabab, Kalmi kabab, Gillori Barra, Mahi kabab, Kaleji kabab, Malai kabab, Hariyali kabab, Aashiki kabab, Goolar ke kabab, and Zimikand kabab.
Here is one recipe for a Lucknow kebab:
SHIKAMPURI KEBAB
1 pound - Lamb pieces (from the leg)
1/3 cup - Chana dal (split gram)
1 tablespoon - Ginger-garlic paste
2 teaspoons (or to taste) - Chilli powder
whole 3-4 (or to taste) - Green chillies
Salt to taste
4 - Black cardamom
4- Bay leaves
4 - Cinnamon sticks
6 - Cloves
1/2 cup - Yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons - Garam masala powder
2-3 - Green chillies, finely chopped
1/3 cup - Fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons - Fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
3-4 tablespoons - Lime juice
1 pound - Fresh cream or hung yogurt
2 - Eggs, lightly beaten
Oil or ghee to fry
Place cream or yogurt in the refrigerator overnight or until firm. Put the meat along with the spices into a pot. Cover with water and boil until the meat is tender and all the water has evaporated. Remove from the pot and discard the chillies and whole spices. Grind the meat to a fine paste without adding water. Add the yoghurt, garam masala powder, coriander leaves, mint leaves and lime juice to the ground meat and mix well. Divide the meat mixture into equal parts (approximately 20 or 22). Take a portion of the paste and roll it into a ball between your palms. Flatten slightly and make an indentation in the centre of the meat, like a small cup. Fill this indentation with a small spoonful of the cream or yoghurt and fold the ground paste over
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to seal. Make all the kebabs in this way and dip in beaten egg, shaking off any excess, and fry in hot oil or ghee until golden brown.
Kebabs are cooked over a low charcoal flame - as well as adding a good aroma, this gives the product the mouth-watering taste, say Avadhi cooks (who are all men, by the way).
The Tunde ke kabab 'restaurant' is unpretentious place, with an open front and a fairly large, rather dark and austere interior Two stoves face the main street, open to the gaze of passers-by. Seven days a week, a little after noon, and then again around 7:30 pm, work gets into full swing. Two young men, normally wearing lungis and vests, stand over a large pan, frying and flattening small, unevenly rounded, fairly ordinary looking kebabs. A slightly older man sits over a convex pan on the other stove turning out fresh waraqui parathas. The entire operation, labor-intensive and unhurriedly performed, appears to be rather run-of-the-mill, but the aroma is arresting, and the number of people going in and coming out, just standing on the street, chatting and eating, lend this place a special feel. A portion of kebabs comes with four patties per plate. You eat, and then move on as there are many waiting to eat.
As the Times of India reported on April 11th, 2004, 'Traffic jams clog Lucknow's streets with a flood of vehicles, mostly official-looking Ambassadors. Locked bumper to bumper, their grills seem to snarl at each other with the surrogate hostility of political vendetta. But Tunde offers a sanctuary of sanity from this clamorous mess. Political fortunes, as those on the cricket pitch, might come and go. But at Tunde's the kebabs always taste great. It's the one constant in an unpredictable world of inglorious uncertainties. The safest bet in Lucknow - just stick to the kebabs.'
In 2007, a few months before Armando Kraenzlin, then Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts' man in India, opened the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, he wanted to find the best kebabs in India, so with his Hotel Manager, Uday Rao - a real foodie, whose brother now runs a restaurant in Goa - made an eating trip to Lucknow. As Rao says, they tasted solidly for about 12 hours. The best kebabs of all were from Tunde.
Now Armando Kraenzlin has returned to the Maldives, to run the two Four Seasons resorts there. Back in India, Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai has a new General Manager, Vincent Hoogewijs.
In the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai marvelous two-floor freestanding San'qi restaurant, designed by the Japanese studio of Super Potato, a whole area is devoted to tandoor food and kebabs. A typical meal could start with Lucknowi minced lamb galawab kebab, four round slices of lamb leg, ground 20 times and blended with a myriad of spices, served on a long diamond-shaped glass dish. This has side dishes of minted yogurt and sweet onion, and the garlic naan bread is equally addictive. You might follow this with a cottage cheese kebab dish, seasoned with carom seeds and yellow chilli. For vegetables, go for country-style spinach curry with onion, garlic and fresh dill, and for starch, add a biryani. Desserts here, by the way, are all strawberry-themed.
If you want to drink Indian wines, one of the most popular labels is Sula Wines, from India's 'Napa Valley', Nashik, about 120 miles from Mumbai. The 30-acre estate was started in 1997 by Stanford graduate Rajeef Samant, who was an executive at Oracle in San Francisco. His winemaker is Kerry Damskey, from Napa Valley.
In India, you eat and drink well.
Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, Mumbai, India
See other hotels in Mumbai (4)
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