Awadhi Cuisine vs Mughlai Cuisine: How is Awadhi Cuisine different from Mughlai Cuisine (2024)

When we think of royal food, the two cuisines that are quick to enter our minds are - Mughlai and Awadhi cuisine. Many people believe that both cuisines are the same, however, there is a vast amount of difference between Awadhi and Mughlai cuisine. While the two may sound and look familiar, the style of preparation and cooking technique is quite different. These two types of cuisines are quite popular in Northern India for their exquisite taste and flavour. Here are some of the major differences between the two types of cuisine.

For those who do not know Awadh was a historic region of Northern India and was the princely state founded by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk in AD 1722. Situated in the heart of the Gangetic valley of India, Awadh comprises the present-day city of Lucknow and some surrounding areas. For these reasons mainly, the Awadhi cuisine is something that’s predominantly the cuisine of Lucknow and got the distinctive flavours under the patronage of Nawabs of Awadh. Since Nawab Saadat Ali Khan had Persian roots, thus there was an influence of Persian cuisine on the Awadhi food. However, later on, the Awadhi cuisine was perfected by the royal khansamas while taking some hints from Mughals and local influences. It is for this reason that Awadhi cuisine is often confused with Mughlai cuisine as it has a lot of influence over the kinds of food made in it. The Awadhi cuisine has subtle and delicate flavours in it with a hint of spices. Some of the popular Awadhi dishes include Awadhi Chicken Dum Biryani, Chicken Korma, Dum Pukht Galouti Kebab, Mutton Korma, and Shami Kebab.

Talking about Mughlai cuisine, it is a style of cooking that originated in the kitchens of the Mughal Empire as they ruled over India from 1426 to 1857. This cuisine is known for its distinctive aroma and flavours of whole spices with curries and sauces being cooked with dry fruits, nuts and aromatic spices like saffron. Due to the range of spices used in Mughlai cuisine, the dishes can have mild to spicy flavours. Also, earlier the amount of dairy used in the Mughlai cuisine was the main reason that most of the dishes were so heavy that a normal person could only have a few bites. However, in recent times, a lot of variations have been made in the Mughlai cuisine due to which the kind of food one gets to eat these days are light and easily digestible. The Mughals have undoubtedly contributed a lot to the culinary history of India. Traces of Mughlai cuisine can be found in several Indian states like Delhi, Bhopal, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. Here are some of the popular Mughlai dishes - Nehaari, Haleem, Mughlai Chicken, Meat Durbari, Murg Musallam, Murg Tandoori, Boti Kebab, Shahi Kaju Aloo and Rezala.

If both the cuisines are compared technically, then the Awadhi cuisine is more of dishes that are cooked on tawa; while in Mughlai cuisine, most of the dishes are cooked or grilled in tandoor.

Awadhi cuisine is mostly cooked using the dum-style, which is when the food is cooked in a deep bottomed pan with a layer of kneaded flour used for sealing the lid of the pan. In simpler words, we can say that the Awadhi food is mostly slow-cooked. On the other hand, Mughlai cuisine has more of grilling and roasting involved in its cooking procedures and thus you will find most of the tandoori dishes in Mughlai cuisine.

It is said that Awadhi cuisine uses 100’s of spices for the cooking of dishes. In reality, the Awadhi food doesn’t rely on too many spices but rather uses a blend of a few exotic spices. On the other hand, it is a known fact that Mughlai cuisine uses a wide range of whole spices in their cooking style along with dairy and dry fruits.