Favorite dish of Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Aurangzeb was not korma, biryani, or nihari, it was…

New Delhi: Babur was the founder of the Mughal empire in India. Along with their traditions and cultures, the Mughals brought along new cuisine which came to be known as Mughlai cuisine or food.

Now, dishes such as biryani, korma, kebabs, haleem, and nihari are among the favourites of many Indians.

This also makes us wonder if the Mughal kitchen was ever impacted by any Indian or vegetarian food?

The answer is yes.

It might sound strange or unrealistic, but it is recorded that the Mughal emperors loved to savour khichdi and it was under the Mughals that khichdi found many patrons in the subcontinent.

Akbar is said to be in love with khichdi. This was to an extent that Akbar’s courtier Abul Fazl used to get about 30 maunds of khichdi cooked every day and anybody passing by his house could relish on it for 24 hours. This means that adjusting the quantities (one maund was 40 kg), 1,200 kg of khichdi was shared with people every day.

After Akbar, it was Jahangir who was very fond of the khichdi, but in a different form. He liked it to be spicier and garnished with pistachios and raisins. It was named “lazeezan” (the delicious).

It is said that Aurangzeb was also very fond of khichdi, which earned the moniker of Alamgiri Khichdi which contained fish and boiled eggs.

But how did khichdi find its way on the emperors’ menu?

It was a two-way process. Just like the Mughals introduced Persian and central Asian cuisine, there was an influence of the subcontinental foods on the Mughals.

Hindustani dishes such as lapsi, puri, ladoo, khandvi, and khichdi were introduced to the emperors and subsequently they started relishing the Indian food.

A major chunk of credit goes to Hindu, primarily Brahmin cooks employed in the Mughal kitchens.

Also, the close relations between Mughals and Rajputs and other Hindu chiefs worked as a bridge between the traditions and foods.