The Oudh Table

So, we won!!

I'm thrilled and filled with joy so much that I can't help but capture a few instances that filled my heart with gratitude and love and overwhelming emotions today at the event.

I cooked the Galouti kebab, the Shami Kebabs and the Awadhi Mutton Pulao

The sight of who came all the way to show her support and stayed throughout the event. It really made us do our best to not let the support of our patrons down which she represented in a way, for me.

As I opened the lid of the vessel in which the Biryani was put on Dum, a lady walked up to me from the second or the third row and said " I love the smell of what's in there and I'm a pure vegetarian, you are already a winner for me!!" This literally made me teary-eyed.

The look I noticed on 's face the moment he took the first bite. Priceless!!.

Something that dear friend Kalyan Kalyan Karmakar] noticed and said about how I come from a Kayasth Family and yet depict the Awadhi cuisine,that is predominantly considered a Muslim cuisine, so well. It really moved me, how Kalyan actually was able to notice this idea which has always been there with .

I always wanted to say this publicly, that my food is my tool against any kind of boundaries that we as humans have created. Today, I'm able to say it. Hope I can take this beyond and forever.

In all, it was indeed great event. Curated very well by Kalyan Karmakar] and ably managed online by .

Thank you . This day shall remain with me forever.

Thank you

A very big thank you to each one of you, our patrons, it's because of your love and support that we are able to come along with the Awadhi cuisine this far and hope to take it beyond, many leaps and bounds!!

Gratitude Shilpa’s Blog. Thank you so much . It does really bridge the gap between the "behind the scene" and what one sees on the table" . So so glad that you enjoyed the food.🙏🏼..

Forever thankful to Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar for spreading the word. God bless you always. 🤗

A Nostalgic Trip To The Memory Lane With The Oudh Table - Charanti & Chai From their delectable menu options to the way the chosen dishes are served, all of it is quite impressive. The fairly recent addition on the ever growing home chef horizon, The Oudh Table as the name suggests has Lucknowi cuisine as its USP and they remain true to that from their weekend menu items....

Words of reassurance from our dear friend Kalyan . His description just sums up our Journey and what The Oudh Table is all about.

BTW, Kalyan has taken the trip to Lucknow with his mask down, from the comfort of his home!!😋

HAVE YOU?? 😁

Wish you and your family a healthy and safe 2022. May the year be full of joy, prosperity and progress!!

Because special treats are meant for special occasions!!😊😊.

Thank you for appreciating our efforts RCR's Foodventure. We are so glad that the food was enjoyed and could add a little more joy to the occasion. 😊

The onset of winters bring along with it the bounty of vegetables like peas and spinach which make an excellent addition to the meat.

The keema matar served last week is one such dish. Though, the frozen variant of the vegetables are available all year round and the disadvantages of living in a cosmopolitan like Mumbai means availability of spinach all year round, the seasonal variety has its own charm and sweetness that these vegetables add to the dish can't come around from the year round available substitutes. The inherent spiciness of the dish meets its ultimate complement and each winter we ensure to bring these goodness to your table from .

To know what is going to be in the menu coming weekend, keep watching this space for more 😁..

Happy Diwali!!

What keeps us grounded?
The love we receive.

The mere mention of The Oudh Table in the same post as Lalla ji and Idrees Biryani Corner.. is an honor in itself. We are humbled Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar .

I had kept the poetic Lucknowi biryani sent by Mudit of for dinner. I was going to photograph it in a posh plate. Then took out a stainless steel one in deference to humble places such as Wahid’s, Idris and Lallaji’s at Lucknow where I went to for biryani. Places which mark the journey of the Awadhi pulao from the royal kitchens to the streets where it became the darling of the masses.

Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar

‘The Tehsildaar Shahab's Qalia is my maternal grandfather's recipe and because I owe a lot of my skills to him, I thought it was apt to feature the dish on our anniversary,’ said Mudit of
Glorious mutton and gravy. Had it with fresh rotis made at home.

Better late than never. Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar words of validation have us dancing 🕺❤

Do follow us on our Instagram to receive our updates timely!!

It’s been all about heavy duty Lucknowi mutton at home this Sunday thanks to Mudit from which turns one.
This is the boti kebab which reminded me of the mutton chaap of Kolkata’s Royal Restaurant. It had a mix of meat and offal in this case and was embedded in a rich thick masala gravy base which made it different from the boti kebabs one is used to in Mumbai which are done on the skewer. Had this with fresh homemade rotis.

The strongest and oldest nostalgia that my taste buds associate with are of two instances and both include the har-dil-aziz Yakhni Pulao. As growing up that was the only meat and rice dish around. Coming back to nostalgia, one, it was eid and the Munshi Mulazim of my Baba invited me, (an 8 year old then and the only non-vegetarian eater in the family), for a Biryani Daawat and the taste buds registered that taste for life.

Fast forward few years, I was twelve, awestruck by my Nana ji's magic with food. I saw a  temporary Chula on a tin in the courtyard and straight went to him to check on what's the deal!! Biryani he said and that day Yakhni pulao became my goto dish for life and is so even till date.
Everytime I'm cooking Yakhni Pulao now, it's that taste that I'm trying to achieve. It's like blending malts. You have notes of cinnamon, cardamom and all other spices but one prominent underlying flavor that complements all the flavors and completes the Yakhni Pulao is that of Aniseed but all of it only felt on the tongue.

Yakhni Pulao for me is a very testing dish. The meat is cooked and the rice is raw so the meat has to be only cooked to certain doneness as to save it from getting overcooked when the rice gets cooked in Yakhni and you undercook the meat, your rice is sure to get lumpy.
The dish is too sacred to be given a twist but what I have tried doing is to camouflage the Yakhni Pulao as the Awadhi Mutton pulao to confuse the senses😊.  Paired best with Shami kebab and Burrani raita.

The weekend is here!!

Pre-order your feast now!! 😊

As we prep for eid celebrations, our eidi came early.😁😁. Thanks to Kalyan and to for recognizing our efforts and featuring us. 😊

Isn't that a beautiful Deg, more so after it's beautifica(Kalai)!!

BTW, it's the Awadhi Qorma getting ready as part of the "bulk orders"(8+pax) that go out during the week from

Experience the complementing contrast!!

Call or WA +919820127626 to place your order now!!

This here is what is called as the "Purvanchali Mutton". A very recent addition to the culinary scene of Lucknow. In the last 15 years or so since made it's debut, there are more outlets selling the dish than that who actually sell authentic local curries.

A lot of influence from the neighboring state of Bihar is very evident in the way this dish is. A complete juxtaposition to the culinary backdrop of Lucknow, this dish has everything that would upset a Nawab and thanks to all the economics I gulped down in my MBA days, I consider this one dish as the socio-economic marker of the city but "Woh kahani phir sahi".

So about this dish, it has whole spices, no finely sliced onions no Birista, generous amount of mustard oil, and 🌶🌶 but the star of the dish is "whole pods of garlic" and these garlic aren't just visible treat. The real deal is to squeeze out the mushy pulp of the cooked garlic and that's an absolute taste of heaven.😇.

Any more praise of this dish and I'm surely going to upset a few purist friends 🤭🤭

That's the Gosht, Arvi ka saalan from the last weekend!!

Arvi or colocasia is widely eaten in the households across UP and in various forms. While some believe that potato was a late addition to the Mutton, colocasia had always been a vegetable of choice to be added to meat along with a few other vegetables like Turnip or even Gourds, one because of its firm flesh when raw, hence cooking well with meat and secondly because of its flavor absorbing quality like its cousin Aloo. The leaf of the plant too makes for a delicious vegetarian dish eaten surprisingly across the country, with different names. "Aduwadi" for e.g. in Maharashtra.

I remember a practical joke from my childhood and it definitely crosses my mind whenever I'm cooking Arvi or Ghuiyan as it's commonly known back in the region :
The househelp once cooked a gravy of it with a lot of oil floating atop, more than even the oil that you see in my pic but I have Mutton as my savior😬. So, on asking why did he go overboard with oil in a simple vegetarian curry, he happily replied saying "Arvi ne Tel chor diya" or " The colocasia released its oil" and we all burst in laughter 🤣🤣

Friends, meet "Birista" and it is what I consider the most important ingredient of a Qorma.

It is as complicated as it looks. Any degree of less browned onions would leave them soggy, making your qorma less granular and you brown them a degree more and your qorma is sure to turn bitter and dark.. Dark is still fine but bitter, absolutely not!!

It is what imparts the true texture, body and color to our Qormas and freshly made, always..

In pictures, transformation of the Chicken into the Awadhi Murg Qorma that went out today!!

है अजब फ़ैसले का सहरा भी
चल न पड़िए तो पाँव जलते हैं

And that's exactly how deciding this weekend menu has been.😁

This weekend, we bring out three dishes that are premiering, of sorts!! The witty addition of veggies to the meaty goodness as the basis..

1. Palak Gosht: The rich Mutton curry made richer with the addition of humble palak. The secret of this recipe is sautéing it for the right amount of time

2. Gosht, Arvi ka Saalan: A rarity and hence exclusive, this Mutton dish of slightly thinnish gravy is elevated many levels with addition of the colocasia. Perfect recipe for the Sunday siesta!!😊😊

3. Kachche Gosht ki Biryani: Well, Raw papaya is a vegetable before it transforms into a fruit and it gets added to the recipe to tenderize the Mutton.
(P.s. We consider this one a well traveled recipe😋. )

Our food through the lens of our lovely clients!!

Thank you so much to each one of them for capturing it so well. My mouth kept watering just looking at the pictures to create this post😋😋!!

And yes, we do have veg food but on request only!!😊

and Thank you for the feature and for making this a reality. It's a proud moment for us and the cuisine that we represent to be featured on a platform like this!!😁😁

The first Bada Mangal. The first Tuesday of the Jaith month of the Hindu calendar marks the series of Tuesdays that are celebrated with full force in the city of Lucknow by setting up stalls for food distribution or "Bhandara", simply put.

As kids, we used be in awe seeing people literally crawling to the old hanuman temple from as far as 25 KMs, after their prayers were answered. A journey which took a few days if one is crawling and moving.

Few know that the tradition of Bhandaras or food distribution centers to these pilgrims was actually started by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan and he is even credited with the construction of a Hanuman temple called the "Bade Hanuman" which is a very revered sight for the past few centuries. It is said that during these Tuesdays, Nawab saheb and his successors as well, even stayed from eating non-vegetarian food as a mark of respect. A true exhibit of our Ganga-jamuni tehzeeb!!
Alas, today we see our beloved Jaan-e-Aalam Nawab displayed as brand logos of various things 😔.

In frame is the Kathal Do-pyaza or Jackfruit cooked in onions and whole spices, that would have come to the rescue on such days!!

The food always takes the limelight and it's not fair to the best supporting star aka "the utensils". The utensils always tend to rub a bit of their personality to the food that's cooked in them.

Like this patili/handi here. It's older than me. So old that it wouldn't have to struggle for a slot if it decided to get a covid jab and it is my go-to utensil when I'm making one dish in particular "The Bundh gosht" or the "Saundha mutton" as the family likes to call it.

Casted in "phool" or bronze in simple terms, this is a heavy patili weighing almost 6 kg, and it's thick(pic 2) which means it's perfect for long periods of "Dum". The inside is plated with "kalai" to ensure that it's appropriate for cooking purpose. Due to its thickness, this takes a lot of time to heat up but also retains the heat for a long duration ensuring the "dum" is continuing even after the utensil is taken down from fire. The result is a rich gravy that's infused with mutton flavours and spices and meat that's juicy and falling off the bone.

चाँद को देख के लोगों ने कहा मुबारक हो ईद,
हमने मगर ईद मनाई कुछ रोज़ के बाद।

In frame, the must have Qimami sewai on Meethi Eid.

Qimami sewai get their name from the qimam or chasni or the sugar syrup that's prepared to cook the seewai in.

In Lucknow, they are prepared from even finer strands of sewai which are almost like hair and the art is to make them melt in mouth without having the strands lose their forms.

Also in frame, the menu that would have been our Eid menu but couldn't be due to XYZ reasons.

The past week was also full of discoveries. One that questioned the very existence 😅

Intrigued by my discussion with and few others on whether it's Biryani or Pulao, I discovered that at the root of it, Biryan is a kebab very similar to the galouti kebabs that they serve in Iran and the place / restaurant it is served at is actually called Biryani and the term has no bearing to any dish of rice and meat!!
Is it not existential crisis??😋😋

We are amidst some very worrisome and unprecedented times and the best way out is to watch each others backs and count on our own blessings.

We have been counting ours in the form of the positive and happy feedback that we have received over the last weekend and we are glad that our efforts are getting recognized.

It has been great to connect with different people from different and distant places of Mumbai with one thing in common, our love for the Awadhi cuisine and the longing for the places where it is best discovered, the lanes of Lucknow.

It is very encouraging to note that we are, slowly but surely, inching towards achieving our foundational objective at The Oudh Table, of presenting our cuisine the best way we can and placing it at the spot it belongs most, "in people's heart".

We hope and pray that all of you all and your families remain safe and protected and that, this too shall pass and soon!!

We are accepting orders for deliveries starting Friday evenings.

For orders/Enquires, please call or WhatsApp on +919820127626.

You can also visit our website alternatively.

A humble request to our lovely patrons, given the circumstances,please plan and order with at least a day's notice.

Thank you!

Want to know more about what we do at The Oudh Table?

Read what the man himself, Mr. Kalyan of Finely Chopped by Kalyan Karmakar has to say about it..

Relish the Awadhi cuisine in the comfort of your home.. Visit us on theoudhtable.com to know what's cooking..

Our secret (weapon) is out again.. The sil-batta is what is the make or break difference between a blender ground mince and the one pounded on the mortar and pestle. Unlike the mixer grinder that turns the mince into a paste, doing little with the whole spices, the sil breaks the fibers of the meat and fine grinds the spices which adds to the flavours many folds and adds a unique texture to the "Shami Kebabs"

Enjoy your shamis when they appear next on our menu and feel the difference!!

A recent trip to Lucknow turned out to be a gastronomic delight and fine tuning of the culinary sense in the company of the Grand masters themselves. From Haji Sahab of the Raheem's Nihari, Lalla Chacha of the Lalla Biryani to Abu Bhai from the Idrees. As always the experience was enriching as was the masterclass!! All these places are institutions in their own right and carry fables of their own!! A must visit for connoisseurs of great food, great company and even better .

For someone who cooks out of
nostalgia, it's important and imperative to keep the memories fresh and Lucknow is home and never sends me back with neither an empty stomach nor an empty heart!! 🛐💓

Appreciation of the cuisine is a true delight. Thank you!!

The Murg Mussallam, a sign of opulence, was a regular feature at the royal dinners in Lucknow and its a pure joy to see it adorning the dining tables of the lovely city of Mumbai !!

Excited to present our limited period

"Winter Menu".

The dishes featuring in this menu are handpicked as they capture the essence of cozy northern winters and bring along a culinary warmth to the spread.

The first in this series, Gaon ka Kalia, is a dish inspired by the culinary scene of the countryside. A complete juxtaposition to the establishment but worth every risk..😊

We also intend to end the series with a similar delicacy. Keep watching this space for more updates..

For ordering, visit us on our website or call/WA us on +91-9820127626