The document summarizes foods and cooking traditions from different regions in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It describes popular snacks like pooris and kachoris from Banaras and sweet dishes like lassi, thandai, and halva from Lucknow. It also discusses the typical vegetarian thali served by Marwari communities in Banaras and meat-based kebabs and curries emphasized in Lucknow cuisine. The western part of Uttar Pradesh shows influences from Rajasthan with meat dishes like soola kebabs and chicken cooked in pits over cow dung fires. The cuisine of the southern region is impacted by the traditional cooking of Bhopal, including achar gosht

1. UTTAR PRADESH
Banaras – famous for milk product.
MALPUAS – sweetened pan cakes.
GARI KA CHEEWRA: water thin coconut flakes sweetened with powdered sugar.
LASSI: Here lassi is thick and sweet, traditionally served in clay cup called PURVAS.
THANDAI: Icy cols milk blended with almond, pista, cardamom, black pepper and sugar,
flavoured and colored with saffron.
Poori and kachoris are famous here, usually served with ghugni or aloo bhaji or aloo koda
(a delightful combination of potatoes and pumpkin). The pooris of this part is so soft that it
is said that if twenty five pooris are stacked on a plate and coin is dropped on top of the lot,
the sound of the coin hitting the plate should be heard with clarity.
Marwaris, originally from Rajasthan are from the business community and
have settled all over the north of Benaras too. They are strictly vegetarian and don’t use
onion and garlic except professional Brahmin cooks (called Maharaj if male and Maharani
if female) no one is allowed to enter the kitchen. The cook must before entering the kitchen,
wearing freshly washed clothing’s. Foods are usually served to the thali directly from
cooking pot. They do not eat anything from outside. This seems to be changing now,
especially with younger generation.
A typical Marwari thali includes:
• Brinjal kalonji: stir fried brinjal with panchphoron, hing etc. when well browned
finished with amchoor or limejuice.
• Sooki gobi or aloo gobi
• Toovar dal
• Kadi- besan dumplings in yoghurt
• Salad made of shredded ginger, modi and green chilli
• Rasgullas and yoghurt
• Papadum
If Benaras is a Hindu city, the Lucknow, also in Uttar Pradesh is a muslim one. There is a
halva recipe in Lucknow that is made of cooking gently yolks of egg(usually 100) with
equal quantities of milk, ghee and sugar till gravy like semolina, then fine shavings of
almond and pista are added spread out in a tray, cooled and cut into shapes of square and
diamond.
The cooks here take special pride not only in taste and texture of their food
but in their ability to astound and amaze their patrons, a pearl pilaf for example. It is
laboriously made by mixing egg yolk with real gold and silver tissues, stuffing the mixture

2. in the esophagus of a chicken tying at regular intervals, boiling and then cutting in open
reveal the pearls.
Tunda, a Lucknow land mark is the name of a kebab shop in the heart of the city. The
kebabs are cooked in enormous cast iron trays. They are shaped like hamburger and made
of very finely minced meat mixed with dozens of spices, nuts and nutmegs and seeds
including nutmeg, mace, cardamom, saffron, coconut, fennel and peanuts. The kebabs,
crumbly and soft are browned on both sides and the wrapped up in a lightly leavened
paratha.
Kakori kebab is another Lucknow specialty, the meat is minced with meat till a paste is
formed, spices such as poppy seed, cloves etc are added and pounded more till almost
gluey. Then the mixture is smoked and wrapped around skewer in cigar shape and grilled
quickly over the live charcoal. It is slightly crisp from outside and silky soft from inside.
Break fast in Lucknow can consist of kulchas, flat sour dough bread eaten with Nahari, a
slow simmered shank stew or roghni roti, rich whole wheat bread eaten with spicy fried
liver.
For lunch there would be more meat or khorma, a meat cooked with browned onion,
cardamom, ginger, garlic etc. toovar dal flavoured with garlic etc.
At formal banquet whole marinated leg of lamb, raan, cooked with almond and poppy seed,
pasanda kebabs, scallopini cut from leg of lamb, cooked with cumin, fennel, cardamom and
smoked before being served, sweet and sour pilaf (mutanjan), shirmal, flaky oven breads
flavoured with saffron and yoghurt etc will be served. Bay leaves play an important role to
finish meal with endless varieties.
The west part of Uttar Pradesh is influenced by Rajasthani cuisine. In the earlier days the
Rajputs had better understandings with Mughals and many of their princess were married to
Mughal emperors. Hunting wild animal, mainly wild boar was a favourite game of Rajputs
and many dishes have been developed by Rajput warriors while of the run or at hunting
parties. Meat including poultry, game and fish are marinated, skewered and grilled over live
fire to make soola kebabs.
On occasion, large pits are dug in the earth and lined with well lit dried cow dung on this is
placed on large pot which is lined with cinnamon sticks. Then is chicken, well marinated
with a ginger, saffron, cloves cardamom, mace and coriander seed and stuffed with minced
meat mixture, is placed on a cinnamon stick. The pot is then covered and sealed; more lit
cow dung is placed over the top leveled off with the ground. The chicken bakes very slowly
and when pot is opened the aroma is breath taking.
The common drink at most gatherings is Asha, an alcoholic beverage made of jaggery.
South of up lies the central Indian of M.P. with its capital in Bhopal, which was dominated
by Muslims.
South of Uttar Pradesh is influenced by the traditional cuisine of Bhopal.

3. ACHAR GOSHT: Meat braised with green chillies and pickled spices.
MURGH RIZALA: Chicken cooked with yoghurt and coriander or as an
alternative chicken is cooked in fresh pomegranate
juice.
MUZAFAR: A sweet pilaf made with fine vermicelli and nuts.
SALIM GOBI: A head of cauliflower cooked with ginger, red chillies
and garlic.