Lucknow becomes Unesco City of Gastronomy: Kebabs, dum biryani, kulfi and other signature dishes to know

City has been recognised for its unique take on North Indian cuisine

Mote keeme ke kebab, a minced meat appetiser, is an example of the rich but subtly spiced kebabs prepared in Lucknow. Photo: Mohsin Qureshi

Growing up in Lucknow, Anubhuti Krishna remembers hosting batasha parties at home. Friends and family would come over to enjoy the one-bite snack of fried spherical wheat flour shells (batasha), hollowed out to hold a matar (white peas) stuffing, and sweet and spiced water.

Paani ke batashe is a variant of a popular street food known by different names across India, but Krishna believes Lucknow’s take on the snack is superior. “There’s so much freshness, umami and balance. The mildly spiced matar combines well with the spicy water, which is never overly sour, salty or chilled like versions in other cities,” says the writer and tour guide.

In the latter role, Krishna hosts cultural tours of her hometown, showcasing its history and architecture as well as its food. Her passion for Lucknow's culinary offerings isn't solely down to personal nostalgia, or a sentiment echoed by fellow locals and visitors. The city now has an accolade that underscores this conviction. At the end of October, Lucknow was designated a Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy owing to its deep-rooted culinary traditions and vibrant food ecosystem.

Vendors offering makhan malai, a delicate milk-based dessert, in Lucknow's Chowk area. Photo: Reem Khokhar

The city's rich history has something to do with its unique take on North Indian cuisine. From being part of the kingdom of Kosala in the 6th century BC, to being ruled from 1350 onwards by the Mughals, the Nawabs of Awadh (a former kingdom that included Lucknow) and the British East India Company, these myriad influences are reflected in the city’s cuisine and culture.

“Awadhi cuisine mainly comes from the royal kitchens of the nawabs. It represents elegance and sophistication, where every dish is crafted with care, slow-cooked to perfection and layered with delicate flavours. But its food culture goes far beyond nawabi heritage,” says Awadhi cuisine specialist Mohsin Qureshi, who serves as executive chef across dineries at Saraca Lucknow, a boutique hotel within the city.

“The vegetarian dishes influenced by Kayastha [a traditional community of scribes, accountants and clerks for the ruling class] and Hindu traditions add another important layer to the city’s culinary story,” Qureshi adds.

Diverse influences come as much from techniques and traditions as well as flavours. For author and food historian Anoothi Vishal, Lucknow's cuisine right down to its simplest dishes is unique thanks to “the sophistication in technique and the subtlety inherent in flavours, fragrance and fineness, rather than using overt masalas.”

Dum biryani is slow-cooked in a sealed pot so all the flavours stay inside. Photo: Anubhuti Krishna

Restraint, then, is another definition of the foodscape here. Think tunday and galouti kebabs; aromatic biryanis; sheermal, a mildly sweet flatbread eaten with rich gravies; desserts such as makhan malai and chaat (savoury street snacks) like matara. “Matara, which is made from dried field peas and eaten with just lime and ginger, is a must-try” says Vishal.

Qureshi highlights other features such as slow cooking and refinement. “One of the main cooking styles we use is called dum – slow-cooking the food in a sealed pot so all the flavours stay inside. We also use methods such as bhuna, cooking spices slowly, and baghar, adding a tempering of spices in hot ghee,” he explains. “What makes Awadhi food special is its balance – it’s rich but also very gentle in taste.”

Chef Qureshi works across restaurants at Saraca, a boutique hotel in Lucknow. Photo: Mohsin Qureshi

Menus go beyond meaty kebabs and biryanis, too. Seasonality is a strong focus in this fertile region, particularly in its diverse vegetarian fare. Winter brings specialities such as nimona, a green pea curry, while summer features bharwa tinda, Indian squash stuffed with a spice mix.

“Any dry vegetable dish across communities will just have turmeric, salt and a slit green chilli for a little heat. Beautiful produce doesn’t need anything,” says Krishna. Spices are used judiciously and intentionally to enhance the vegetable’s flavour and add aroma. “For instance, a fenugreek tempering with potato and beans, or cumin seeds with bottle gourd,” says Krishna.

Chef and writer Taiyaba Ali highlights “nafasat and nazakat”, or precision and subtlety, as an everyday practice and philosophy in local kitchens. This extends to the unique way spices are used.

“The emphasis is on palatability and refinement. Like the French bouquet garni, we have potli masala where whole spices like mace, nutmeg, clove and cardamom are placed in a tied muslin cloth and used towards the end when cooking pulaos and gravies,” says Ali. Straining gravies for a silken consistency; tenderising meat for velvety, not chunky, kebabs; and using yoghurt in traditional meat dishes for a rich savouriness are other hallmarks of the cuisine.

Home cooking, too, benefits from rich flavours, subtle spices and seasonal delicacies. Photo: Anubhuti Krishna

The Unesco tag acknowledges both professional chefs and home cooks who display the same finesse in everyday meals – whether making kofta (meatball) pulaos, ensuring the dum (steam) doesn’t crumble the koftas, or crafting seasonal sharbats from fruit and flowers.

“Home cooking includes plenty of seasonal pulaos and khichdis. These rice-based dishes need skilled preparation, maintaining the water ratio so that the rice grains and lentils are fluffy and separate, not congealed and starchy,” says Ali.

As for confectionery, a strong dairy culture certainly helps. “Lucknow has some of the best mithai and kulfis [a frozen dessert]. Chanakya kulfi is a favourite, made the old-fashioned way with a hand churner,” says Ali.

Another delicacy, malai gilori or malai paan, originated in the 1800s as a non-tobacco paan (betel leaf) when Nawab Wajid Ali Shah discouraged tobacco use. A dried fruit and sugar crystal filling is wrapped in paper-thin malai (milk cream), folded like a betel leaf, and topped with edible silver foil. “The malai gilori at Ram Asrey melts in the mouth,” says Qureshi.

Meanwhile, the winter delicacy makhan malai, a delicate milk cream dessert, differs depending on which North Indian city you sample it in. “But Lucknow’s makhan malai is understated, lightly sugared and with a cloudlike souffle texture. It has little embellishment, so you can really taste the light milk froth,” says Krishna.

Locals evidently take pride in preserving traditional foods and techniques. But there are also attempts to widen the appeal for contemporary diners, though balance and intentionality are as important in these modern interpretations.

At Azrak, Saraca hotel’s signature restaurant, Qureshi serves classic Awadhi dishes such as dum biryani and korma-e-khaas, but with a twist that appeals to modern-day diners. “For example, some of our kebabs are infused with Ayurvedic herbs such as jatamansi, peepli, patter ke phool, and kebab chini that add depth to the flavour and bring natural health benefits.”

Bun makhan (butter) and chai from Kewal's is a popular breakfast choice in Lucknow. Photo: Reem Khokhar

Ali creates tasting menus that experiment with seasonal produce and technique, while retaining traditional flavours. For instance, reimagining nihari, a breakfast meat stew, and kulcha, the flaky soft flatbread accompaniment, as a nihari puff – a laminated pastry with mutton nihari filling, the gravy akin to a silky French sauce with butter. “I also do chaat tarts, kebabs in different forms and seasonal fruit sorbets like pink guava with black salt. I play with the textures, but the flavours are still nostalgic.”

For locals, the Unesco recognition is both validation and opportunity. “This accolade underscores what people like me have been saying, that Lucknow has world-class food. I hope it opens the world to the city, as it is still undiscovered by the international market,” says Krishna.

Ali hopes the spotlight will help bring in tourism, but emphasises the need for improved infrastructure to cater to more visitors – from smaller traditional eateries adopting digital payments to better traffic control.

“It will open opportunities for culinary tourism, local entrepreneurship and innovation,” says Qureshi. “This is not just a title – it is the world’s acknowledgement of centuries of our culinary wisdom, artistry of our chefs, and the emotional bond our people share with food.”