Mughlai, Awadhi and Punjabi cuisines: North Indian food decoded! | Food

Mughlai, Awadhi and Punjabi cuisines: North Indian food decoded! | Food

“Indian Food items” is the blanket time period specified to the broad variety of cuisines the Indian subcontinent features to the environment. Nonetheless, dwelling in India, we know that the myriad of cuisines classified as Indian meals is incredibly diverse in cooking styles, flavour pallets, and dishes.

Even though the indulgent and abundant flavours of North India are drastically distinctive from the mellow flavours of the south, the complication arises in differentiating two cuisines belonging to the exact same region.

This brings us to our subject matter of discussion today… how to differentiate between a few of the most common cuisines of North India- Mughlai, Awadhi and Punjabi cuisines!

(Sure, they are pretty unique from one another!)

If you far too are perplexed about this, you should not worry… rest assured, you are not alone.

Even if you know how to cook dinner an array of dishes from just about every of the three cuisines, the likelihood are that you you should not detect each individual cuisine’s unique flavour nuances and cooking designs.

Enable us to elaborate even further on this.

Mughlai Delicacies
As the identify indicates, this prosperous delicacies originated through the reign of the Mughal Empire. You can discover traces of the affect of Turkish cuisine (Turkey being exactly where the Mughal kings hailed from) in the bold flavours of Mughlai foods.

Mughlai food stuff takes advantage of an array of aromatic spices that give the delicacies a spicier palette than the other North-Indian cuisines. The dishes are also a tad heavier in contrast to other cuisines, specified the quantity of dry fruits, significant cream, and milk used to prepare them – a virtue that highlights the cuisine’s Persian affect.

Seekh Kebab. Picture: Shutterstock Photos


While the delicacies has a the vast majority of non-vegetarian dishes, some of our favorite (and staple) vegetarian curries (like Shahi Paneer) and lentils belong to this delicacies. Some of the world’s most relished kebabs (like the Galawati kebabs and Seekh Kebabs) belong to this delicacies. The most preferred accompaniment to Mughlai cuisine is the delectable Bakarkhani, or a thick biscuit-like bread well prepared with molasses and sugar mixed with flour and ghee.

Other popular Mughlai dishes include:
Nihari (A stew well prepared by sluggish-cooking meat and flavoured with extensive pepper)
Korma (A braised vegetable or meat curry cooked with yoghurt)
Qeema Mattar (A minced lamb or mutton curry geared up with peas)

Awadhi Delicacies
Individuals generally confuse Awadhi cuisine with Mughlai food. The confusion is justified, provided that even however the flavour profiles and strategies of cooking the dishes of the two cuisines are distinct, their names are the similar! Choose seekh kebab, for instance authentic Mughlai delicacies makes use of minced beef to prepare this delicacy, whereas the Awadhi delicacies works by using minced lamb on skewers to make seekh kebabs.

A single have to notice that chronologically Mughlai cuisine came prior to Awadhi delicacies, and the food items of the Mughals drastically affected the latter.

Awadhi dum biryani. Photograph: Shutterstock Illustrations or photos


A speedy point check out- Awadhi cuisine’s origin can be traced back to the metropolis of Nawabs, Lucknow. Introduced to India by the Nawabs of Awadh, hailing from Persia, this cuisine’s flavour profile is a whole lot far more fragile than its wealthy inspiration (Mughlai).

One of the most popular techniques of making ready Awadhi foods is the process of ‘Dum’ cooking. In dum-style cooking, the vessel the foodstuff is cooked in is sealed making use of dough in between the vessel and its lid consequently, no steam is allow out until the foodstuff is completely cooked. This approach preserves the aroma and the vitamins of the dish beautifully.

The renowned Tunday Kababs of Awadhi cuisine are regarded as the world’s softest and most succulent kebabs. They are named just after the physical attributes of the famed Chef Haji Murad Ali, who experienced only just one arm. The chef was awarded the patronage of the Nawab simply because of his culinary aptitude.

Other renowned Awadhi Dishes contain:
Awadhi Dum Biryani
Zarda- a dessert organized with rice
Warqi parathas- really delicate flaky parathas

Punjabi Cuisine
Hailing from the Point out of Punjab, this delicacies is represented by millions of home kitchens in the North! This delicacies has dishes manufactured by employing the frequently grown crops of this area.

This delicacies is hearty and comforting, with dishes that burst with flavour and are relatively indulgent with the major utilization of ghee and butter that goes into it.

Paratha. Photograph: Shutterstock Images


As opposed to the other two northern Indian cuisines, this cuisine has a greater part of vegetarian dishes in its portfolio. For that reason, the foods is straightforward to put together and is the staple cuisine in numerous north Indian households. But the a person approach that is specific to this cuisine is tandoor cooking. A tandoor is a clay oven utilized most frequently to put together breads like roti and naans. The equipment renders an earthy taste to the bread because of the coal that’s utilized in it.

Fingers down the most popular Punjabi dish is the Paratha – which is practically nothing but a stuffed roti. The permutations and combinations of Paratha stuffing are endless. Up North, there are restaurants committed to only parathas! Dishes like the Sarson ka saag and Makki ki roti are other preferred Punjabi dishes that are prepared all through the winters, offered the seasonal availability of the greens employed to make this dish.

Now that you are nicely versed with the variance between the delicacies, which just one would you say are you most familiar with?