Authentic Awadh

Nawab Wajad Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh (former British name given to the central Indian region around Lucknow) was a great lover of art, culture and food. It was during his period that several bawarchikhanas (kitchens) flourished, owing to the high degree of culinary skills of his cooks who vied with each other to cook exquisite delicacies to their masters’ desires and to make a place for themselves in their hearts.

This piece of history is significant when you enter The Oudh at The Ashok. The Oudh (pronounced: The Awadh) has managed to keep its historical significance intact with traditional cuisines, including some of the most popular dishes all the way from Lucknow.

On a sunny Saturday, Metrolife decided to taste a bit of royalty of the nawabs of yore, and sure, we weren’t disappointed with any of the dishes. We say it upfront because rarely it is the case that each and every dish is a delight and has a story of its own; a testament to rich Nawabi traditions of Oudh.

As we took a walk around the fine dining restaurant, we were amazed by the classy interiors with a warm and cosy ambience, the walls adorned with paintings of the nawabs, high-grade furniture and rich cutlery. We took our seats on a corner to get a full view of the place. Soon, we were greeted by a welcome drink, ‘Noor-e-Chasm’, a sweet and sour lemon fizz-based mocktail with The Oudh's “special mix”. The drink, quite similar to jaljeera gave us a refreshing feel.

Synonymous for its high standard of gastronomic etiquette, Oudhi cuisine uses the Dum Pukht style of cooking (Dum means to breathe and Pukht means to cook) that involves placing ingredients in a traditional Degh or Handi, sealed with a veil of dough (to trap the steam) and cooking it over a slow fire — allowing the ingredients to simmer in their own juices until tender and delicious.

But to suit the palate of the present generation, the rich ingredients have been toned down; cooking time and methods too have been re-engineered and adopted to today’s palate without affecting the taste and flavour of the dishes. Yet they preserve the feel of the indolent times of the Nawabs of Oudh, informs Mukesh Rana, restaurant manager, The Oudh. The menu has been clearly demarcated with vegetarian, non-vegetarian, vegan (olive oil), eggless markings guiding one through.

Also, all the dishes on the menu are prepared in trans-fat free oils. While our first set of starters began with ‘Galavat Kabab’, made of minced mutton, herbs and spices cooked on a griddle (Rs 1,200); ‘Lehsooni Malai Tikka'’, garlic flavoured chicken chunks cooked in a tandoor in the non-vegetarian affair, our vegetarian serves were ‘Sunehri Seekh’, a combination of minced vegetables, skewered and roasted on charcoal; ‘Hariyali Kabab’, a shallow fried mix of spinach and green peas stuffed with cottage cheese and herbs; ‘Tohfa-e-Noor’, saffron flavoured cottage cheese roll stuffed with khoya and nuts finished in chef's own style.

What we devoured about these dishes were their tender, melt-in-the-mouth flavours. Each of them, especially the ‘Tohfa-e-Noor’ was more towards sweet flavour, which they say is to cater to patrons who don’t prefer spicy flavours. Yet, the sweetness doesn’t overpower the dish. Moving to maincourse, from the curries section named ‘Nazrana Handi Se’, we were served ‘Murgh Rihana’, barbequed chicken simmered in a gravy of cashew nut, tomato and cream. It was accompanied by Indian breads like ‘Gilafi Kulcha’, ‘Sheermal’ (saffron-flavoured bread baked in a tandoor) and ‘Warqi Parantha’ (flaky Awadhi bread) from the ‘Rotiyan Daawat-e-Shahi’ section. The vegetarian version of it named ‘Paneer Rihana’ comprised cubes of cottage cheese simmered in a gravy of cashew nut, tomato and cream which was good to go with the Indian breads, especially with ‘Sheermal’ and ‘Gilafi Kulcha’. On the sides, ‘Dal Oudhi’, an in-house black lentil speciality, and ‘Dahi ke Koftey’, cottage cheese dumplings simmered in a saffron-flavoured yoghurt gravy was a good pick to go with the heavy maincourse.

Awadhi cuisine is incomplete without the traditional lip-smacking biryanis. And The Oudh has four of them — ‘Murgh Biryani’, ‘Teh Biryani’, ‘Gulnar Biryani’ and ‘Kathal Biryani’. We loved their ‘Kathal’ mix comprising rice and jackfruit cooked with aromatic herbs and spices in the dum style. The flavours of the herbs were strong, and added a punch to the platter. Finally, after a stomach-filling meal, we opted for ‘Malpua Rabri’, sweet pancakes with reduced sweetened milk, ‘Shahi Tukra’, Indian bread pudding with reduced sweetened milk, and ‘Sheer-e-Oudh’, vermicelli cooked with milk and nuts.

If gorging on the ‘Tukra’ doesn’t give a complete satisfactory feel, the vermicilli-mix leaves one with a feeling of wanting for more!

FAQs:
Address: 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri
Meal for two: Rs 3,700
For reservations, call: 011-26110101, 24123840
Timings: 12.30 pm to 3 pm, 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm
Jayashree Narayanan