A glimmer of green in Lucknow’s food scene

From being a culturally inspiring city to being the seat of politics, Lucknow has donned diverse hats over the ages. The one thing that has united its fans though, has been its stellar gastronomy. The capital city has been synonymous with its legendary Tunde kebabs, but look closely and it has an equally strong tradition of vegetarianism. From the nooks and crannies of old Lucknow’s alleys to its high-end establishments, there runs a green undercurrent that is hard to ignore.

Mornings in Lucknow are busy with the preparations of a typical UP breakfast; shutters of big stores are still down, but it’s showtime at Bajpayee Kachauri Bhandaar with queues extending all along the sidewalk. Big woks on high flames heat up oil to deep fry khasta kachoris, flour-based round shells with spicy lentil fillings, paired with aloo sabzi or curried potato. Diagonally across the eatery is the 1805-established Ram Asrey, where verses on the city’s finesse welcome you inside.

Poetry in a sweetmeat shop...

Lucknow is probably the only place where you will find poetry in a sweetmeat shop; art runs in the veins of the city like an unassuming river waiting to flow through every channel it can find. You can try any mithai here and they will all be great (except the boondi laddoo which has been claimed by Ritz, an establishment that has been making the best melt-in-the-mouth nuggets since the 70s), but the definite follow-up to a North Indian breakfast is the jalebi-dahi combination of wheat pretzels dunked in sugar syrup, served with yoghurt. Try that or the ‘king’ malai gilori made of milk cream and dry fruit folded together like a betel leaf. Some love it and others find it a tad too sweet, but it is unanimously adored for its design that mimics the paan.

“Food is the fabric that unites Lucknow, and Bada Mangal perfectly illustrates that,” says Anubhuti Krishna, who grew up in the city and leads food tours in her hometown. A 400-year-old tradition started by Begum Janab-e-Alia, the second wife of Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daulah, Bada Mangal or the “Big Tuesday” is a festival and temple feast that was created to honour the queen’s divine dream about Lord Hanuman, which also predicted the birth of her son. The tradition continues bringing together people across faiths and food choices at the Hanuman Mandir in Aliganj over a blessed meal.

A frenzy for street food

While Lucknow loves its traditional food, it has an equally thriving population with a growing taste for Western flavours. Danbro, which started as a small family-owned pastry unit called Mr Brown in the heart of Lucknow, has grown over the years to become an institution today. It’s a city favourite catering to vegetarian needs through its delectable pizzas, quiches, pan Asian bowls and gourmet desserts. Essentially a bakery, the chain, with multiple outlets across the city, makes its own version of designer cakes that Lucknow loves — including the North Indian festival-themed Holi and Janmasthmi cakes! They’ve been the hottest-selling item here apart from their handcrafted chocolates, toffees and cookies, leading Danbro to run its own culinary institute today which offers diploma courses in patisserie art.

Come evening, and it is time for a universal pick that transcends the boundaries of both meat lovers and plant eaters — the quintessential UP chaat. Every old timer in Lucknow has his or her favourite neighbourhood chaatwala, but for an evening out, there is no ideal stretch like Hazratganj, sprinkled with a little of everything. Stop at Shukla Chaat for not just the regular pani puris, dahi bhalla and aloo tikki, but also the unique nimbu matar chaat, a spin-off that puts together boiled peas in an array of spices and lime juice. Try another version for variety at Moti Mahal, and cool off the spices with a heavenly mango lassi at Chedilaal, a small shack selling a variety of shakes. If you still have room for more and the will to navigate the lanes of Aminabad, the familiar comfort of Prakash Ki Kulfi awaits you with its brass tokens and falooda kulfi.

Dine like the Nawabs

Finish off the night in style with dinner at Oudhyana, the in-house restaurant at the iconic Taj Mahal, the hotel’s tribute to the cuisine of Awadh. The fine dining spot spellbinds you with not only its food but also its architecture and ambience which draws inspiration from the rich history of the city and the influence of both the British and the Nawabs.

The colonial architecture, sculptures and marble pathways of the main building give way to Awadhi-style interiors at this speciality restaurant that showcases traditional design with food that encompasses the flavours, history, and stories of the region’s finest. The menu is a grand showcase of plenty of green dishes, meticulously prepared to match Oudh’s legendary cooks. Start with the Niloferi raamdana tikki or amaranth patties, and follow it with the exquisite saffron-flavoured flatbread sheermal and the layered warqi paratha with curried eggplant, baigan mirch ka salan, and it is guaranteed to tantalise your finer palate. There are desserts for a sweet ending, but nothing beats a night drive to the Chowk for a good old paan.

With its focus on singular cuisines and dishes, from small joints to top-notch eateries, Lucknow is a reminder of a time before multi-cuisine restaurants and before a multi-tasking approach towards life.

Be it its bookstores with its massive sections dedicated to Sahitya, classic Hindi literature, or clothes shops that only specialise in chikan and mukaish work, its colonial-era buildings that jostle for space geographically and historically with the Bara and Chota Imambaras, or a simple stroll at night across Hazratganj, there is something about this city that begs prose to be left behind and only for it to be described in poetry, and a tasting done with your eyes closed.