Mughlai cuisine

Dishes developed in the Mughal Empire

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Mughlai cuisine" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article is part of the series on

Indian cuisine

Regional cuisines

North India

* Awadhi
* Braj
* Haryana
* Kashmiri
* Kumauni
* Mughlai
* Punjabi
* Rajasthani
* Uttar Pradeshi

South India

* Chettinad
* Hyderabadi
* Karnataka
* Kerala
* Lakshadweep
* Mangalorean
* Mangalorean Catholic
* Saraswat
* Tamil
* Telangana
* Telugu
* Udupi

East India

* Angika
* Bengali
* Bhojpuri
* Bihari
* Jharkhandi
* Maithil
* Odia

West India

* Goan
* Gujarati
* Malvani & Konkani
* Marathi
* Parsi
* Sindhi

Northeast India

* Arunachali
* Assamese
* Meghalayan
* Manipuri
* Mizo
* Naga
* Nepali
* Sikkimese
* Tripuri

Other

* Anglo-Indian
* Fast food
* Indo-Chinese
* Jain (Satvika)

Ingredients, types of food

* Main dishes
* Soups and stews
* Desserts
* Bread
* Drinks
* Snack foods
* Spices
* Condiments

Preparation, cooking

* Handi
* Karahi
* Tava
* Tandoor
* Uruli
* Other

See also

* History
* Etiquette
* Indian chefs
* Cookbook: Cuisine of India

Related cuisines

* Afghan cuisine
* Burmese cuisine
* Bangladeshi cuisine
* Bhutanese cuisine
* Maldivian cuisine
* Nepalese cuisine
* Pakistani cuisine
* Sri Lankan cuisine
* Tibetan cuisine

* India portal
* Food portal

* v
* t
* e

This article is part of the series
Pakistani cuisine
پاکستانی پکوان

Regional cuisines

Eastern

* Mughlai
* Muhajir
* Punjabi
* Saraiki
* Lahori
* Sindhi
* Parsi

Western

* Balochi
* Hazara
* Pashtun

Northern

* Chitrali
* Hunza
* Kalash
* Kashmiri

Overseas and fusion

* Balti
* Pakistani Chinese

Ingredients

* Breads
* Condiments
* Snacks
* Soups and stews
* Spices
* Sweets and desserts

Preparation and cooking

* Handi
* Karahi
* Tandoor
* Tava
* Other

See also

* History
* Etiquette
* Pakistani chefs
* Cookbook: Cuisine of Pakistan

* Pakistan portal
* Food portal

* v
* t
* e

Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in the early-modern Indo-Persian cultural centres of the Mughal Empire. It represents a combination of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes of Central Asian and Islamic cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is strongly influenced by the Turkic cuisine of Central Asia, the region where the early Mughal emperors originally hailed from, and it has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The tastes of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy, and are often associated with a distinctive aroma and the taste of ground and whole spices.[1] A Mughlai meal is an elaborate buffet of main course dishes with a variety of accompaniments.[2]

## History

[edit]

Although the ruling class and administrative elite of the Mughal Empire could variously identify themselves as Turani (Turkic), Irani (Persian), Shaikhzada (Indian Muslim) and Hindu Rajput, the empire itself was Indo-Persian, having a hybridized, pluralistic Persianate culture. Decorated Indo-Persian cookbooks and culinary manuscripts adorned the personal libraries of the Mughal elite, serving as both culinary guides and for aesthetic value.[3]

One example was the Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi, a 15th-century work illustrated with Persian miniatures. This was commissioned by Ghiyath Shah, a sultan of Malwa (now in Madhya Pradesh), and features Central Asian dishes such as samosas (fried potato filled pastry), khichri (rice and lentils), pilaf (rice dish), seekh (skewered meat and fish), kabab (skewered, roasted meat) and yakhni (meat broth), as well as western and southern Indian dishes, such as karhi, piccha and khandvi.

From the Mughal period itself, one popular culinary work was the Nuskha-i-Shahjahani, a record of the dishes believed to be prepared for the court of Emperor Shahjahan (r.1627-1658). This Persian manuscript features ten chapters, on nānhā (breads), āsh-hā (pottages), qalīyas and dopiyāzas (dressed meat dishes), bhartas, zerbiryāns (a kind of layered rice-based dish), pulāʾo, kabābs, harīsas (savoury porridge), shishrangas and ḵẖāgīnas (omelette), and khichṛī; the final chapter involves murabbā (jams), achār (pickles), pūrī (fried bread), fhīrīnī (sweets), ḥalwā (warm pudding), and basic recipes for the preparation of yoghurt, panīr (Indian curd cheese) and the coloring of butter and dough.[4]

Another famous textbook was Ḵẖulāṣat-i Mākūlāt u Mashrūbāt, perhaps dating to the era of the emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1656–1707), while another was Alwān-i Niʿmat, a work dedicated solely to sweetmeats. Divya Narayanan writes:

> These include varieties of sweet breads such as nān ḵẖatā̤ʾī (crisp bread, like a biscuit), sweet pūrīs, sweet samosas (or saṃbosas), laḍḍū and ḥalwā. The cookbook introduces each recipe with a line of praise: for instance saṃbosa-i yak tuhī dam dāda (samosa with a pocket cooked on dam) is declared as being ‘among the famous and well-known sweets; pūrī dam dāda bādāmī (almond pūrīs cooked on dam) is said to be ‘among the delicious and excellent sweetmeats, and nān ḵẖatā̤ʾī bādāmī (almond nān ḵẖatā̤ʾī) is noted for being ‘among the rare and delicious recipes.[5]

There are even many commonalities between Indo-Persian cookbooks used at the Mughal court and contemporary culinary works from Safavid Iran, such as the Kārnāma dar bāb-i Tabākhi wa san'at-e ān "Manual on Dishes and their Preparation" of Muhammad Al' Bāwarchi Baghdādi.

Mughlai cuisine is renowned for the richness and aromaticity of the meals due to extensive use of spices like saffron, cardamom, black pepper, dry fruits and nuts, as well as rich cream, milk and butter in preparation of curry bases. This has influenced the development of North Indian cuisine.[6]

## List of Mughlai dishes

[edit]

* Biryani
* Haleem
* Korma
* Roust
* Nihari
* Pilaf
* Bakarkhani
* Baklava
* Aloo gosht (lamb/mutton and potato curry)
* Qeema matar (ground lamb and pea curry)
* Kofta
* Chorba
* Kebab (first introduced during the Delhi Sultanate):[7]
* Tunde ke kabab
* Bihari kebab (meat chunks roasted in open flame)
* Kakori kebab (first prepared in Uttar Pradesh, India)
* Chapli kebab (first prepared by Pashtuns in the northwest frontier of India)
* Kalmi kebab
* Seekh kebab
* Shami kebab (first prepared by Syrian cooks in the Mughal era, "Shami" denoting their Syrian origin)
* Shikampur kebab
* Mughlai paratha
* Murgh musallam
* Pasanda
* Shawarma
* Chicken tikka
* Rezala

## Desserts

[edit]

* Gulab jamun
* Falooda
* Seviyan (prepared with milk, clarified butter, vermicelli, rose-water and almonds)
* Sharbat
* Barfi (derived from the Persian word for 'snow/ice')
* Phirni
* Saffron Phirni (rice-based sweet dish streaked with saffron)
* Badami Phirni (rice-based sweet dish with almonds)
* Shahi tukra (rich bread pudding with dry fruits and flavored with cardamom)
* Sheer khurma
* Several varieties of indigenous mangoes were cherished and cultivated by the Mughal court.[8]

## See also

[edit]

* Cuisine of Karachi
* Bangladeshi cuisine
* Bengali cuisine

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Government focusing on boosting exports | DAWN.COM". www.dawn.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
2. ^ Sahuliyar, Arti (5 July 2008). "Mughlai cuisine tops popularity charts in capital". The Telegraph. Calcutta. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011.
3. ^ Narayanan, Divya (January 2016). "What Was Mughal Cuisine? : Defining and Analysing a Culinary Culture". Interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Südasienforschung. 1: 1–30. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
4. ^ "Table Talk: The emperor's new iftar". Gulf News. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
5. ^ "Readings in a Culinary Culture", Accounting for Taste, University of Chicago Press, 2004, pp. 83–110, doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226243276.003.0004, ISBN 9780226243245
6. ^ "Mughalnama: changing the contours of Mughlai cuisine in India". Outlook India.
7. ^ Mishra, Smita (27 February 2016). "The 1,000 Year History of the Kebab on Your Plate". The Times of India.
8. ^ Pal, Sanchari (7 June 2016). "Food for Thought: Unpeeling the Mango's Interesting History in India". The Better India.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Mughlai Cook Book, Diamond Pocket Books, ISBN 81-7182-547-8 [1]
* Nita Mehta's Vegetarian Mughlai Khaana By Nita Mehta, Published 1999 ISBN 81-86004-10-6
* Mughlai By Amrita Patel Published 2004, Sterling Publishers, 160 pages ISBN 81-207-2646-4

## External links

[edit]

* Mughlai Recipes
* Mughal Emperors' Food

* v
* t
* e

Mughal Empire

Emperors|

* Babur
* Humayun
* Akbar
* Jahangir
* Shahryar
* Shah Jahan
* Aurangzeb (Alamgir I)
* Muhammad Azam Shah
* Bahadur Shah I
* Jahandar Shah
* Farrukhsiyar
* Rafi ud-Darajat
* Shah Jahan II
* Muhammad Shah
* Ahmad Shah Bahadur
* Alamgir II
* Shah Jahan III
* Shah Alam II
* Shah Jahan IV
* Akbar II
* Bahadur Shah II

Administration|

* Dynasty
* family tree
* Economy
* Flag
* Foreign relations
* Government
* Military
* Mughal artillery

| Provinces|

* Agra
* Ajmer
* Awadh
* Bengal
* Berar
* Bihar
* Gujarat
* Delhi
* Hyderabad
* Lahore
* Malwa
* Multan
* Sira

|

Conflicts|

* Mughal-Rajput wars
* Mughal conquest of Malwa
* Gujarat conquest
* Mughal–Safavid war (1622–1623)
* Mughal–Safavid war (1649–1653)
* Suppression of Tilpat rebellion
* Ahom–Mughal conflicts
* Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal war
* Mughal–Maratha wars
* Child's war
* Carnatic wars
* Bengal war
* Indian Rebellion of 1857
* Mughal–Portuguese conflicts

| Battles|

* Agra
* Badli-ki-Serai
* Bhuchar Mori
* Buxar
* Chanderi
* Chausa
* Ghagra
* Haldighati
* Karnal
* Khajwa
* Khanwa
* Najafgarh
* Panipat (1526)
* Panipat (1556)
* Panipat (1761)
* Plassey
* Raj Mahal
* Samugarh
* Sirhind
* Thanesar (1567)
* Thanesar (1710)
* Tukaroi
* Bakla
* Bhulua

|

Sieges|

* Bijapur
* Chittorgarh
* Delhi
* Daman
* Daulatabad
* Golconda
* Hooghly
* Jinji
* Kandahar
* Mankot
* Purandhar
* Ranthambore
* Sambhal

Adversaries|

* Baro-Bhuyan
* Isa Khan
* Khwaja Usman
* Bayazid of Sylhet
* Musa Khan
* Pratapaditya
* Ibrahim Lodi
* Rana Sanga
* Sher Shah Suri
* Hemu
* Maharana Pratap
* Malik Ambar
* Gokula
* Shivaji
* Lachit Borphukan
* Khushal Khattak
* Josiah Child
* Guru Gobind Singh
* Henry Every
* Bajirao I
* Nader Shah
* Hector Munro

Architecture|

| Forts and palaces|

* Agra Fort
* Lahore Fort
* Lalbagh Fort
* Red Fort
* Jahangir Mahal
* Sheesh Mahal

|

Mosques|

* Alamgir Mosque, Aurangabad
* Jama Masjid (Delhi)
* Chawk Mosque
* Badshahi Mosque
* Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta
* Sunehri Masjid
* Wazir Khan Mosque

Tombs and mausoleums|

* Akbar's Tomb
* Bibi Ka Maqbara
* Gardens of Babur
* Humayun's Tomb
* Jahangir's Tomb
* Taj Mahal
* Tomb of Salim Chishti
* Tomb of Aurangzeb
* Tomb of Nur Jahan
* List of tombs of Mughal Empire

Others|

* Fatehpur Sikri
* Shalimar Gardens
* Achabal Gardens
* Shahi Bridge
* more

See also|

* Art
* Cuisine
* Culture
* Fashion
* Gardens
* Language
* Painting
* Persian Mughals
* Tribe
* Weapons
* Foreign relations

Successor states|

* Sur Empire (interrupted)
* Maratha Empire
* Rajput states
* Jats
* Sikh Empire
* Nawabs of Bengal
* Nawabs of Awadh
* Nizam of Hyderabad
* Carnatic
* Kingdom of Mysore
* Rohilkhand

* v
* t
* e

Cuisine of India

* History
* Etiquette

Regional cuisines|

| North India|

North Indian cuisine
Awadhi
Braj
Bhojpuri
Punjabi
Haryanvi
Kumauni
Mughlai
Kashmiri
Rajasthani
Marwari (Jain)
Uttar Pradeshi
Pashtun

|

South India|

South Indian cuisine
Chettinadu
Lakshadweep
Karnataka
Kerala
Tamil
Telugu
Hyderabadi
Udupi
Mangalorean
Mangalorean Catholic
Saraswat

East India/North East India|

Bihari
Bhojpuri
Maithil
Magahi
Angika
Bengali
Odia
Jharkhandi
Assamese
Sikkimese
Arunachali
Meghalayan
Tripuri
Manipuri
Naga
Nepali

West India|

West Indian cuisine
Goan
Gujarati
Marathi
Konkani
Koli
Agri
Malvani
Sindhi
Parsi
Pashtun

Other|

Jain (Satvika)
Anglo-Indian
Fast food
Indian Chinese
Indian Indonesian
Indian Singaporean
Malaysian Indian
Mauritian
Thai
Balinese

Ingredients / types of food|

* Main dishes
* Soups and stews
* Desserts
* Bread
* Drinks
* Snack foods
* Spices
* Condiments

Preparation and cooking|

* Handi
* Karahi
* Tava
* Tandoor
* Uruli

Related cuisines|

* Afghan cuisine
* Burmese cuisine
* Bangladeshi cuisine
* Bhutanese cuisine
* Maldivian cuisine
* Nepalese cuisine
* Pakistani cuisine
* Sri Lankan cuisine
* Tibetan cuisine

* Category
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template