MUGHAL STYLE : CUISINE DELHI
When the Mughals invaded India, one of the many things they brought with them were their chefs, trained in the cuisines of the Middle East, Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan. The names of the Mughal emperors read like a roll call of people who made a mark in India: Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb; these men left behind an enormous, eternal legacy of monuments-most famously, the Taj Mahal. These rich and cultured emperors built fabulous pleasure gardens and were lovers of all things beautiful-paintings, shawls, miniatures, jewellery, carpets, glass, and last but not the least, food.

A DIFFERENT FLAVOUR:
When the Mughals invaded India, one of the many things they brought with them were their chefs, trained in the cuisines of the Middle East, Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan. The much-touted Mughlai cuisine of North India gradually developed during the successive reigns of the Mughal emperors and is today a major element on any self-respecting Indian foodie's map.

The cuisine, largely because of both geographic and religious limitations, was often based on Iamb. Typical Mughal preparations mostly consisted of roasted dishes as well as barbecues and dry curries. Yoghurt, butter, cream and nuts were introduced and became an integral part of Mughlai food. As we all know, anything cooked with butter and cream is delicious, so it's little surprise that Mughlai food is so popular.
Mughlai cuisine is an umbrella term that covers much of the food of North India, from Pakistan through Kashmir, Delhi and on to Lucknow and even way down south to Hyderabad.


There are reginal variations as the cuisine evolves, in Lucknow, you find rich kormas and nargisi koftas. Biryani, a dish of layered rice and meat, is Hyderabad's speciality, but equally delicious all over North India. The Moghuls made Kashmir their summer headquarters and it was a place they loved with a passion. Their imported culinary traditions blended with the native Kashmire traditions, leading to a distinctive Kashmiri cuisine. Nuts and dried fruits, which grow abundantly in Kashmir , are used in cooking, as is saffron.

One of the iconic dishes of this beautiful part of the world is rogan josh - lamb cooked with ginger, fennel and ground red chillies. Immigrants to Delhi from Punjab and the far North West also introduced different forms of cooking. A major contribution was the tandoor or clay oven, which is the source and originator of the iconic tandoori food for which North India is famous especially during winter.

The star items in any North Indian restaurant are mouth-wateringtandoori chicken, seekh kebabs, shammi kebabs, shish kebabs, kakori kebabs and so delectably on. As well as all these kebabs, bread is traditionally prepared in the tandoor, hence the delicious tandoori naan, tandoori roti and the rich and more cholesterol heavy tandoori paratha.

Your best bet are the less pretentious places, where food is more important than the decor. Old Delhi can't be bettered on that score and the undisputed star is Karim's at Jama Masjid, a Delhi institution. But also do check out Nizam's kathi kebabs in Connaught Place, which is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.