<b>FEAST FROM THE <font color ='black'>PAST</font></b>

Kulsum Begum, meanwhile, is working as a food consultant with the ITC in Mumbai. Her job is to put together a sumptuous feast from the past. Begum makes Hapshi Biryani, Kairi Dal and Pyaaz ki Kheer, painstakingly stirred and simmered over a slow fire. “My favourite is Shabgeer, made of mutton and wheat, and cooked through the night. Nobody knows the recipe of this dish besides me,” claims Kulsum Begum, who, like true nobility, is planning to pass it on to her kids.
For 52-year-old food consultant Masihuddin Tucy based in Hyderabad, documenting the Mughal kitchens is an attempt to bring back the glory his family lost a century ago. A fifth-generation, direct descendant of emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tucy’s home in Hyderabad is full of books and translated manuscripts that speak of cooking styles from centuries ago. “Books like the Akbar Namah and Al Mamoon mention an elaborate dinner hosted by Mamoon Rashid 1,300 years ago, where 300 dishes were served, with a note on the ingredients. Also, Bahadur Shah Zafar had a collection of recipes handed down through generations,” he says. Tucy talks about the Sarhadi Naan, a four-and-a-half-feet-long naan made with 10 layers of ghee. He makes Lashkari food (army food) that originated in Amir Taimur’s reign 700 years ago and was popular during the rule of Akbar and Jehangir. “There are recipes like Kashghar Kebab, where mutton is cooked on aromatic wood, and Mamoon Rashid’s favourite shorba cooked with coriander roots for 16 hours. These recipes are slowly becoming extinct,” he says.

The Arab influence penetrated southern India through the Moplah cuisine when the Arabs came to India to trade in spices. Abida Rashid, 45, a chef, has a rambling bungalow on the outskirts of Kozhikode where she cooks north Kerala’s Malabari Muslim food for tourists. “I’ve tried reviving Moplah recipes but some are way too difficult,” she says, referring to Enthu Pudi which is made with cycas plant, a shorter and thorny version of the date palm. “It gives fruit after 10 years of planting.” Cooking it is an elaborate procedure. Rashid, whose cooking is highly sought-after by five-star hotels, is sceptical of how well this recipe will endure in the future. The fruit was wrapped in bundles and hung on top of chimneys for a year. “When I was young, the whole family would sit together and make small dumplings from the crumbled fruit. It was then steamed and cooked with coconut milk, fish and rice flour. It was a rare treat,” she recalls.

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FEAST FROM THE PAST