Where tehzeeb meets taste: How Awadh’s royal kitchens shaped Lucknow’s food identity

In Awadh, the nawabs developed an elaborate code of dining etiquette. This was referred to as dastarkhwan , a ceremonially laid-out dining spread. “Such was the value of the piece of cloth used for the food spread that one was forbidden from stepping on it,” notes Prof. Nina Sabnani in Dastarkhwan: Stories of the Awadhi Nawabs & their love for food & culture (2015).

“The dastarkhwan had at least 12 dishes or more and the tehzeeb [courtesy & respect] flowed into the manner of eating,” she writes. The meal began with guests washing their hands in a chilamchi (a pot for hand washing). A seasonal sharbat (juice) was then offered, followed by shorba (soup). The main course typically comprised galawati or kakori kebabs , a salan or korma , accompanied by a sprea