Mughlai cuisine facts for kids

Mughlai cuisine is a special kind of food that came from the Mughal Empire in medieval times. It's a mix of cooking styles from the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia, where the Mughal emperors originally came from. This food also has influences from Islamic cuisine.

Mughlai dishes are known for their rich taste and amazing smell. They use many different ground and whole spices. A Mughlai meal is usually a big spread with many main dishes and lots of side dishes. This cooking style has greatly influenced the food in Northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The Story of Mughlai Food

The Mughal Empire was a powerful kingdom in India. Its rulers and important people came from different backgrounds, including Turkic, Persian, and Indian Muslim families. The empire had a rich Indo-Persian culture, which was a blend of Indian and Persian traditions.

Cooking was very important to the Mughal elite. They had beautiful cookbooks in their libraries. These books were not just for recipes; they were also works of art!

Early Cookbooks and Dishes

One old cookbook was called the Ni'matnama. It was made in the 1400s and had lovely pictures. This book showed dishes from Central Asia, like samosas (fried pastries with meat) and pilaf (a rice dish). It also included dishes from other parts of India, like karhi (a yogurt soup).

Another famous cookbook from the Mughal period was the Nuskha-i-Shahjahani. This book recorded the dishes made for Emperor Shahjahan (who ruled from 1627 to 1658). It had ten chapters, covering everything from nānhā (breads) to kabābs (skewered meats). It also included recipes for sweets like ḥalwā (a warm pudding) and pūrī (fried bread).

Sweet Treats and Influences

Other cookbooks focused just on sweets, like Alwān-i Niʿmat. These books described many delicious sweet breads and puddings. For example, nān ḵẖatā̤ʾī (a crisp bread like a biscuit) and sweet pūrīs were very popular. The recipes often started with praise for how tasty the dish was!

Mughlai cooking also shared many similarities with the food from Safavid Iran. This shows how ideas and recipes traveled between different cultures.

Mughlai cuisine is famous for its rich and fragrant meals. This is because it uses many spices like saffron, cardamom, and black pepper. It also uses rich cream, milk, and butter in its sauces. This style of cooking has greatly influenced the food we eat in North India today.

Popular Mughlai Dishes

Here are some well-known dishes from Mughlai cuisine:

• Kolkata biryani
• Mutton/chicken chap
• Mutton/chicken pasinda
• Hyderabadi biryani
• Haleem
• Khichda
• Korma
• Nihari
• South Asian pilaf (a rice dish)
• Bakarkhani
• Baklava
• Lucknowi biryani
• Aloo gosht (lamb or mutton with potato curry)
• Qeema matar (ground lamb and pea curry)
• South Asian kofta (meatballs)
• Shahi paneer (a creamy cheese dish)
• Shorba (a type of soup)
• South Asian kebab (skewered, roasted meat):
  • Galawati kebab (very soft kebabs)
  • Bihari kebab
  • Kakori kebab
  • Chapli kebab
  • Kalmi kebab
  • Seekh kebab
  • Shami kebab
  • Shikampur kebab
  • Murgir kebab
  • Tunde ke kabab
• Mughlai paratha (a type of flatbread)
• Murgh musallam (whole chicken dish)
• Butter chicken
• Pasanda
• Shwarma
• Samosa
• Tandoori chicken
• Chicken tikka
• Rezala
• Paneer tikka

Delicious Mughlai Desserts

Mughlai cuisine also has many wonderful sweet dishes:

• Phirni
• Gulab jamun (sweet fried dough balls)
• Jalebi (sweet, crispy spirals)
• Falooda (a cold dessert drink)
• South Asian halwa (a warm pudding)
• South Asian seviyan (made with milk, vermicelli, and almonds)
• Sharbat (a sweet drink)
• Kulfi (Indian ice cream)
• Barfi (a milk-based sweet)
• Firni
  • Kesari firni (rice pudding with saffron)
  • Bedami firni (rice pudding with almonds)
• Shahi tukra (a rich bread pudding)
• Sheer khurma
• The Mughal court also loved and grew many types of mangoes.