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The raan or mutton offers numerous possibilities for the daskarkhwan. The Pasanda Kabab is one such mouth watering preparation. The pasanda is a two inch square boneless cut flattened out by beating with the blunt side of knife. It can either be skewered or cooked in a vessel. The latter method is more common in Lucknow.

Over two hundred years ago, in the early 18th century, Kashmiri families came down the mountain valley to seek fame and fortune in the rich plans below. Those were the days of the decline of the Mughal Empire, and it was not surprising that the glory of Awadh pulled them towards Lucknow. A number of Kashmiris came to settle in the capital of Awadh. They brought with them the scent of saffron, the cups of kahwa and their celestial cuisine. Truly, the cooking of "Shab Deg" in winter, for the Nawab in Awadh, became not only a celebration of winter, but a reminder of the bond with that land which is oft referred to as heaven on earth:

"Agar firdaus bar ru-yi-zamin ast,

Hamin ast, u hamin ast, u hamin ast."

If on earth be an Eden of bliss,

It is this, it is this, none but this.

Even to this day, the fondness for the Kashmiri cuisine has not waned. Ask any old native of Awadh Shah Deg and you will see his eyes brim with nostalgia, and he laments the dying of the art of cooking this sublime dish. "Shab Deg" is a beautiful blend of whole turnips, Kashmiri ver, mutton balls and spices cooked in a `deg' through the night or "shub". The treatment of turnips with saffron, the special Kashmiri vers brought all the way from Kashmir with the distinctive aroma of saffron and Kashmiri onions, and the koftas, cooked on the slow fire in a sealed deg till the break of dawn, lend this dish its distinguished status. The culinary skill of a cook in preparing this dish lies in the deftness with which all the koftas (mutton balls) and turnips are made to look like one another and that they are cooked to the perfect texture. Apart from the carefully crafted ingredients, pieces of mutton or game birds are also cooked in the gravy.

Note : Kashmiri ver is a doughnut-shaped cake of ground spices with a strong and pungent aroma. Ask any Kashmiri woman for the recipe and she turns evasively coy; "Well, you see, I don't actually make it myself," she says cagily. "My mother-in-law sends just a little at a time". Ver comes in the form of a thin, hard cake with a hole in its center. It can contain garlic and `praan' (Kashmir onion a strange cross between a spring onion or scallion and a shallot) for Muslims, asafetida and fenugreek for Hindus as well as lots of freshly ground red chilies, cumin, coriander, dried ginger, cloves, cardamom and turmeric. All these spices are ground, then made into a patty and is left to dry on wooden plants in the shade. Here it is turned over expertly many times until it is quite hard, after which it is strung and kept for the rest of the year. Small amounts are broken off as needed, crumbled and then sprinkled over many foods to give them a recognizably Kashmiri flavor. Sealed deg can be put in a very slow oven alternatively for 4-6 hours.

An old recipe for cooking fish is the `Zamin Doz Machhli' wherein a whole fish is stuffed with spices, sealed in an earthenware case, buried in the ground and cooked by placing cow dung cake fire on the ground above. Though it takes 6-8 hours to cook, it is worth the wait! In the days of yore, special earthenware cases were made to order by the kumhars (potters) according to the size and shape of the fish to be cooked. The case would fit the fish like a glove and moisture would be absorbed by it. The final product would have an extraordinary earthy flavour. As such luxuries are rare these days we thought of substituting the fish-shaped case with the easily available roti-dish or the flat curd dish.

Though the formal menu of Awadh did not have any place for the Biryani as mentioned earlier, it was and still is popular for the informal meals. The method of cooking the Biryani is the `Dum Pukht' method which imparts a typical Awadh flavour to this rice preparation. Biryani literally means fried or `bhuna', and in this preparation, the rice is lightly fried before being cooked in the mutton stock. Hence the name, differentiating it from the pulao where the rice is parboiled.

Note : It can be cooked in a microwave or an oven by placing the partly cooked ingredients in a casserole and cooking at a slow temperature.

Spring is the season of rejuvenation, of exultation and festivity. In India its celebration in the various regions has its own joyous flavour. In north India, more specifically, in Awadh `vasant' as it known, has a tradition of being celebrated with music and dance and of course to go along with the festivities. The wide expanse of the mustard fields-in garb of yellow are a treat for the eyes. In the days of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who was a connoisseur of the fine arts, celebrations were done in style. A long procession of `Bajras' (barges) were taken out on the river Gomti. Dressed in yellow, to match the (color of nature) spring palette, men and women danced to the tune of Raga Vasant, and Raga Hindola. The river would be transformed to a rich yellow hue more aptly labeled as `Basanti'. The `Zarda' is a celebration of spring though its popularity transcends the seasons, even cooked during marriages or auspicious occasions, this sweet rice preparation is like a spring song!

The `Roomali Roti' is suggestive of the scarf or handkerchief like appearance of this bread. Shaped without rolling on a board and cooked on a convex iron griddle, this bread is very special to Awadh. The fine texture of the bread makes it an excellent accompaniment for delicate kebabs and kormas.

The `Sheermal', invented in Lucknow by an ace bread-maker by the name of Muhammadan, is a rich bread consisting mainly of flour, milk, fat and saffron. Though traditionally cooked in an iron tandoor, it can be cooked in a mahi tawa also by covering with a lid and applying heat from the top and bottom.

The Kulcha is a favorite accompaniment to the Nehari. The soft texture of this bread is good with curries.

The `Murg Mussallam' (literally, means whole chicken) is one such delicacy perfected by the cooks of Awadh. It is quite common to cook this dish on ceremonial occasions as it lends a certain majesty to the dastarkhwan. And in this region the competence of a cook is gauged by his ability to cook this dish. The preparation of Murg Mussallam requires a good command over the blending of spices and knowledge of heat control. Purists prefer country chicken to the boiler for the cooking of any chicken dish, because they consider the farm chicken no match to the robust rooster even though the cooking time and processing is longer in the later case.

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