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Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in theearly-modernIndo-Persian cultural centres of theMughal Empire. It represents a combination ofcuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes ofCentral Asian andIslamic cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is strongly influenced by theTurkic cuisine ofCentral Asia, the region where the earlyMughal emperors originally hailed from, and it has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines ofNorthern India,Pakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh.
The tastes of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy, and are often associated with a distinctivearoma and the taste of ground and whole spices.[1] A Mughlai meal is an elaboratebuffet of main course dishes with a variety ofaccompaniments.[2]
Although the ruling class and administrative elite of the Mughal Empire could variously identify themselves asTurani (Turkic),Irani (Persian),Shaikhzada (Indian Muslim) andHindu Rajput, the empire itself wasIndo-Persian, having a hybridized, pluralisticPersianate culture. Decorated Indo-Persian cookbooks and culinary manuscripts adorned the personal libraries of the Mughal elite, serving as both culinary guides and for aesthetic value.[3]
One example was theNimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi, a 15th-century work illustrated with Persian miniatures. This was commissioned byGhiyath Shah, asultan of Malwa (now inMadhya Pradesh), and featuresCentral Asian dishes such assamosas (fried potato filled pastry),khichri (rice and lentils),pilaf (rice dish),seekh (skewered meat and fish),kabab (skewered, roasted meat) andyakhni (meat broth), as well as western and southern Indian dishes, such askarhi,piccha andkhandvi.
From the Mughal period itself, one popular culinary work was theNuskha-i-Shahjahani, a record of the dishes believed to be prepared for the court of Emperor Shahjahan (r.1627-1658). This Persian manuscript features ten chapters, onnānhā (breads),āsh-hā (pottages),qalīyas anddopiyāzas (dressed meat dishes),bhartas,zerbiryāns (a kind of layered rice-based dish),pulāʾo,kabābs,harīsas (savoury porridge),shishrangas andḵẖāgīnas (omelette), andkhichṛī; the final chapter involvesmurabbā (jams),achār (pickles),pūrī (fried bread),fhīrīnī (sweets),ḥalwā (warm pudding), and basic recipes for the preparation ofyoghurt,panīr (Indian curd cheese) and the coloring of butter and dough.[4]
Another famous textbook wasḴẖulāṣat-i Mākūlāt u Mashrūbāt, perhaps dating to the era of the emperorAurangzeb (r. 1656–1707), while another wasAlwān-i Niʿmat, a work dedicated solely to sweetmeats. Divya Narayanan writes:
These include varieties of sweet breads such asnān ḵẖatā̤ʾī (crisp bread, like a biscuit), sweetpūrīs, sweetsamosas (orsaṃbosas),laḍḍū andḥalwā. The cookbook introduces each recipe with a line of praise: for instancesaṃbosa-i yak tuhī dam dāda (samosa with a pocket cooked ondam) is declared as being ‘among the famous and well-known sweets;pūrī dam dāda bādāmī (almondpūrīs cooked ondam) is said to be ‘among the delicious and excellent sweetmeats, andnān ḵẖatā̤ʾī bādāmī (almondnān ḵẖatā̤ʾī) is noted for being ‘among the rare and delicious recipes.[5]
There are even many commonalities between Indo-Persian cookbooks used at the Mughal court and contemporary culinary works fromSafavid Iran, such as theKārnāma dar bāb-i Tabākhi wa san'at-e ān "Manual on Dishes and their Preparation" of Muhammad Al' Bāwarchi Baghdādi.
Mughlai cuisine is renowned for the richness and aromaticity of the meals due to extensive use of spices like saffron, cardamom, black pepper, dry fruits and nuts, as well as rich cream, milk and butter in preparation of curry bases. This has influenced the development of North Indian cuisine.[6]
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