Awadh loses its ‘dum’ in Imtiaz Qureshi’s demise | Lucknow Information
LUCKNOW: ‘Dum Pukht’, the Nawabi Lucknow’s sluggish cooking fashion, owes as a lot to Imtiaz Qureshi, the grand previous man of Indian culinary arts, as vice versa.
Whereas Qureshi carried it from the esoteric Persian manuscripts to the world map of gastronomy, ‘Dum Pukht’ catapulted the Lucknow-born chef to heights of fame beforehand unknown to any Indian cook dinner.
Qureshi, who grew to become the primary practising member of his fraternity to ever get a Padma Shri in 2016, handed away in Delhi on Friday.He was 93.
The sluggish cooking fashion has its origin – like most good issues in Lucknow – in a narrative. Throughout the time of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah in 1784, Awadh was confronted with a ravaging famine. Jobs have been misplaced and folks have been getting ready to hunger.
That’s when the Nawab determined to assemble Bara Imambara to provide employment to individuals and arrange a neighborhood kitchen to feed all. It’s right here that rice, meat, greens and spices have been put collectively in large deghs, sealed and left to cook dinner in a single day on a sluggish charcoal hearth.
The legend goes that sooner or later, the Nawab caught a whiff of the aromas emanating from the cauldron and the royal kitchen was or- dered to serve the dish, which has now come to be often known as ‘Dum Pukht’ Biryani.
Dum Pukht, the restaurant on the Maurya Sheraton, that grew to become synonymous with the grasp chef and a standard-bearer for Indian high quality eating, served because the meals laboratory the place Qureshi invested a few of his signature dishes and raised the bar for Indian delicacies – very similar to his trademark handlebar moustache. Bukhara, one other Sheraton restaurant that he based, remains to be working.
Lengthy earlier than the appearance of meals movies, Qureshi created an aura for Awadhi delicacies that made it a fad for world cooks. Most of his preparations carried tales of ardour impressed by town he was born in.
He specifically curated a dessert, known as Lab-e-Mashooq, for legendary Begum Akhtar, the Queen of Ghazals. Fabricated from condensed milk, khoya and dry fruits, the dessert was impressed by Lakhnavi ‘Nimish’ or extra generally identified ‘makkhan-malai’. His pista kulfi drizzled with a bitter cherry sauce, created for Roger Moncourt, the French chef who dominated the Continental kitchens of Delhi, remains to be thought-about a masterpiece.
One other preparation, Shamsheer Aatish-e-Shirni, apple jalebis flamed with darkish rum, he cooked for Subject Marshal Cariappa after he had commissioned the NCC in Lucknow in 1948, serves as inspiration for younger cooks.
Qureshi, who was born right into a household of butchers, would typically say that solely a butcher is aware of which cuts of meat have been to enter what.
Supposed to be a wrestler, Qureshi ended up as an apprentice to his ustads, Haji Ishtiyaq and Ghulam Rasool, and began working with a Luck- now-based catering firm, Krishna Caterers that was serving the Indian Military in the course of the Chinese language Battle in 1962. He moved to Lucknow’s Clarks Awadh later.
Qureshi received to serve Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was being hosted by then UP CM CB Gupta. Out of respect for Gupta’s vegetarian sensibilities, Qureshi, greatest identified for mutton and fish dishes, invented Turush-e-Paneer, escalopes of cottage cheese filled with dried plum and oranges, quilted in a tomato plum sauce.
But it surely was at Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton that Qureshi reached the zenith of his profession and painted the nationwide capital, which had an indelible Mughal and Punjabi affect, within the colors of Awadh.
His sensational melt-inmouth Kakori Kabab, the signature Dum Biryani, and gravies, like Koh-i-Awadh, lamb shanks cooked in soup of mut- ton paya, and Mahi Dum Pukht, purple snapper fillet cooked in an almond and brown onion sauce, grew to become world chartbusters.
Qureshi, who may neither write nor learn, was a raconteur par excellence. Qureshi’s tales in chaste Lakhnavi Urdu served because the legendary sauce that impressed a technology of cooks.
In his tribute, well-known chef Sanjeev Kapoor wrote, “Your culinary creations impressed many individuals and can endlessly be a supply of consolation. Relaxation in everlasting peace, Chef. Your legacy won’t ever be forgotten.”
“Qureshi’s meals in an ITC resort was life-changing for me. Not solely had he pulled the Dum Pukht approach out of Lucknow, he had given it a character, an unmistakable refinement,” wrote chef Ranveer Brar, who additionally comes from Lucknow, on X.
