Did you recognize that the chili you partner with common ‘Mughlai’ meals wasn’t commonplace within the royal Mughal kitchen? And that we learned the art of cooking on skewers from the Muslim rulers? Food historian and writer Salma Yusuf Husain, who has spent her entire life studying Indian food, translated Shah Jahan’s cookbook, Nuskha-e-Shahjahani Persian, into English for The Mughal Feast (Roli Books). We chat with the author approximately the finer nuances of the royal Mughal kitchen.
When the original Nuskha-e-Shahjahani was compiled, what was its motive?
The handwritten Persian manuscript starts without the date of compilation or the name of the compiler. But it suggests that it was compiled during Emperor Shah Jahan’s reign, perhaps by one of the cooks of his royal kitchen.
What was the procedure for translating the book like?
My expertise in the Persian language and the potential to examine manuscripts helped me translate this cookbook.
What are some of the most critical strategies and elements you determined through this cookbook that have become mainstream in India?
Cooking on dum or what’s known as dum pukht, slow cooking, smoking, the making of yakhni, blending of meat, and shaping them on skewers, all of those are techniques we learned from the Mughals. The introduction of Muslims in India between the 10th and 11th centuries resulted in an incredible fusion of culinary traditions. With Indian, Mesopotamian, Persian, and Middle Eastern delicacies, culinary art reached its height of class under the Mughals.
Moghul emperors had also become fairly Indianised, and this ebook incorporates recipes that carry mild to that fact. With time, certain Indian dishes and elements have been used to create one-of-a-kind flavors. Recipes like bharta, poori, khichdi, besan roti, and a few sweetmeats highlight those factors. Betel leaves, mustard oil, mishri, Multani mitti, mahua, and Indian fruits are a few examples of Indian elements used in their cooking.
Is there any point in chili? Is there any other mainstream Indian ingredient that was not cited in the course of this time?
There is no point in chili, though it came in the later part of Shah Jahan’s reign. It took longer for use in culinary delights. There is hardly ever any point in garlic and turmeric, too.
How do you believe that your study of the Mughals changed the face of Indian cuisine?
Mughals delivered a wealthy gastronomic history to India with them, and this influence is now an interesting part of our meal culture. They added fashion and substance to India’s simple meals, making it exotic and turning cooking into art–the usage of nuts and saffron, for example. Similarly, using the results in cooking introduced a unique flavor. Apart from this, their hospitality changed into legendary as well. They have left at the back of a legacy of meals that stay alive even after centuries.
