Did you know what necessitated the need for Galawati kababs in Oudh? Which king had his food tempered with gold? And why a cow once had to be hoisted to the second floor of Rampur palace?
Alongwith such anecdotes in her book, Dining With The Maharajas, author Neha Prasada has captured the entire social history of the royal culinary heritage of India. And it isn’t just about eccentrics and profligacies, she says, “Like the arts and cultural pursuits, good food was patronised in the royal courts of India. One cannot dismiss this as mere extravagances.”
The coffee table book that is being published by Roli Books also contains elaborate recipes and exclusive photographs that her partner in the project Ashima Narain has shot. “I interviewed 10 royal families across India —Hyderabad, Mysore, Rampur, Mahmudabad, Sailana, Patiala, J&K, Tripura, Udaipur and Jodhpur. I travelled to these cities and met the current representatives of these families.”
Besides her own research about the food of the region, the book is full of stories of the royal kitchens and their master chefs, the grandeur of state banquets, hospitality, etc. She shares, “The current Maharaja of Sailana (MP) Vikram Singh narrated that his great grandfather and his friends from other royal families often used to go on shikars. They took alongwith them an entourage of staff and servants whenever they hunted and camped. And it was during one of these shikars that the entire party of staff got lost and none of the royals knew how to cook, so they were left hungry and stranded. That is when they decided that that was it. They collected a wonderful trove of thousands of amazing recipes and learnt to cook and compiled a book of royal recipes as well.”
Sharing one of the many other interesting anecdotes from her book, she says, “A nawab of Oudh had bad teeth and had problem in chewing. So his royal cook created Galawati kababs that melted in the mouth and needn’t be chewed.”
And the gold-tempered food was for the royalty of Mehmudabad. “The ruler was severely depressed, and as a remedy the hakim advised cooks to temper the food with gold coins,” she shares.
Another interesting titbit was about the cow-hoisting incident at Rampur. “Given our Indian ethos of hospitality, rulers went out of the way to ensure that the guests had everything they wanted. The great granddaughter of Rampur’s ruler told me about when the ruler of Banaras was once visiting her great grandfather. The ruler of Banaras had been advised by soothsayers to first lay his eyes on a cow when he woke up each morning. So, as he was lodged on the second floor of the Rampur palace, a cow was hoisted each morning with the help of a pulley to the second floor balcony just to fulfill this wish!”