Chef Prem Kumar Pogakula found handwritten recipes from his college days and read a lot on Mughal cuisine to come up with not-so-known dishes. By Divya Kaushik
I have heard that Akbar ate one meal a day,” said someone from one corner of the table. No one looked surprised. “If that one meal was about curries simmered overnight with loads of butter, meat coated with exotic spices and nuts and breads prepared with ghee and saffron, that one meal would have been sufficient for the day,” said the other on the table. Chef Prem Kumar Pogakula, executive sous chef of The Imperial, was smiling at every comment and was glad that his guests were prepared for a lavish and rich meal he was to serve. Mughlai food promotion at Daniell’s Tavern is something he has been totally engrossed in since last few days. While it must be easy for some to just go by popular choices and put on the menu what’s already known, Prem burnt the midnight oil digging out handwritten recipes from his college days and searching for text on Mughlai cuisine to come up with something that explains the true meaning of the food. The hard work resulted in a precise menu listing some known and some not-so-known dishes from the Mughlai cuisine. But the reason why the menu is being appreciated widely is because of its authentic flavours. If Mughlai cuisine is meant to be rich, the chef has let it be like that. While having the meal, the flavours take over you so strongly that you hardly bother about calories.
The chef was ready with his presentations for the afternoon. The most awaited was kebabs. Mutton kakori kebab and tandoori nisha were the first ones to arrive. Mace and saffron infused lamb mince kebab were cooked on skewers and the aroma was strong and hard to resist. Tandoori nisha was fresh jumbo prawns marinated in yogurt, chilly and spices. Murgh nawabi beda was chicken flavoured with royal Indian spices and finished in clay oven. “Kebabs from various regions are famous for different regions. But broadly they are an essential part of Mughlai cuisine and that richness of the cuisine should be reflected in the way these kebabs are prepared and presented. The texture of the kebabs is very important,” said the chef. For vegetarians he had prepared subz shammi kebab, prepared with vegetables. Grounded nuts were so well mixed in the make, that on the one hand it provided perfect texture to the kebabs and on the other the essential crunch to every bite. Paaya shorba with kofta, we got to know, works as a remedy to those suffering with cold. A Mughlai speciality is cooked overnight with braised lamb trotters. The dumplings served were melt-in-the-mouth. “Most of the dishes from Mughlai cuisine are extensive preparations. The key to flavours is the use of spices in right proportion and low-flame cooking. However, there will be differences in the food cooked the Nizami way in Hyderabad and that cooked in lucknow,” shared the chef.
No Mughlai meal is complete without nihari. The chef too served gosht nalli ki nihari. Other delicacies were Akbari murgh masala and paneer musallam, gobhi dolma and firdausi pulao for the vegetarians. Gobhi dolma was a surprise and a must-eat. The vegetable was cut into small chunks and was prepared simple way with lots of garlic and ginger. Other delicacies, just like their names, were rich and royal in terms of ingredients used. We were told that the dough for Mughlai parantha is kneaded with milk, butter and saffron and that makes it crisp. Sheer korma was an ideal dessert to end the royal meal. Warm vermicelli pudding was served in earthen pots with dates and dash of honey.
