Flavours of Avadh: Journey from the Royal Banquet to the Corner Kitchen

Flavours of Avadh: A Journey from the Royal Banquet to the Corner Kitchen is the story of food and cooking, from palaces to pavement. The book charts a unique socio-cultural route through the decades, sketching out an exclusive regional food history richly coloured with family anecdotes, local festivities, regional culture, and dining traditions. There are more than sixty recipes collected from the elite homes and kitchens where this unique and traditional cuisine has been nurtured over centuries. The food court of the Avadh region in north India, with its capital Lucknow and the city’s unique culture nestled amidst the emerald green Gangetic plains, is a sprawling and diverse one. High sophistication, a rare tradition of etiquette, and well-defined social customs outline the flourishing regional cuisine, enriched and nurtured by the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur and the early Mughals between the mid-14th and early 18th centuries. Aromatic spices, exotic herbs, a rare creative energy, and a romantic ideology, coupled with a mix of racial traits and customs, have produced this exclusive line of food and hospitality—the Avadh cult of cuisine. As the proverb goes, even the drinking water of Lucknow tastes different. Traditionally stored in clay vessels in the summer heat and often sipped after adding fresh mint leaves, it changes hue and flavour with the seasons. Offered in tall silver embossed tumblers in winter with a sprinkling of fresh rose petals, the special tradition of serving water spells out the creative passion surrounding the culinary habits of this region.