Why chef Imtiaz Qureshi was the pioneer of Lakhnawi cuisine

On a busy day in the Dum Pukht kitchen at ITC Sonar Kolkata chef Mukhtar Qureshi was slouching over while preparing the galouti kebab Suddenly a heavy slap landed on his back His lsquodur ke fufajirsquo the late chef Imtiaz Qureshi under whom Mukhtar was apprenticing in 2003 had dropped byldquoHe took me aside and said lsquoKhana banana hai to shaan se banao Jhuk kar nahi Dil se khilana hai toh ankh aur seena dono milne chaiyersquo His lecturing was also lengthy just like his dum pukht cookingrdquo Mukhtar smilesQureshi as a wrestlerEarlier this month on February 16 chef Imtiaz Qureshi Padma Shriawardee 2016 passed away at 93 He dedicated 40 years of his life to rediscovering reinventing and refining Awadhi and Lakhnawi cuisine Born into a family of butchers in Lucknow at the young age of nine Imtiaz was sent to apprentice under his relative ustad Haji Ishaq in Hussainganj ldquoMy father had two passions mdash pehelwani aur pakana wrestling and cooking He would tell me how he had to lift 100kg flour bags prep the tandoor and even remove it off the ground at the end of the day He would do all the mis en place in the hope to get to learn and make sheermal and rotis in the tandoor and kebabs in the grillrdquoLater he began working as a chef at Hotel Krishna in Hazratganj in Lucknow and was muchloved for his catering Following this he joined Lucknowrsquos first fivestar hotel Clarks in 1973 ldquoIn 1976 the then ITC chairman late Ajit Haksar had a vision to introduce Indian cuisine concepts in the hotels He entrusted the task to retired employee Mr Sabarwal to bring Imtiaz Qureshi on board ITC hotels However it was the armed forces personnel who frequented Mohammed Baug club in Lucknow who eventually convinced Imtiaz to move to Mughal Sheraton Agra where he opened Navratna In a year he moved to Delhi to launch ITC Maurya where he was in charge of the Indian cuisine at the coffee shop and restaurants Mayur Dum Pukht and Bukharardquo recalls Ishtiyaque Imtiazrsquos eldest son who began working with his father since he was 13Imtiaz Qureshi during a visit to Mumbai File pics Right Chefs Manjit Gill left with Qureshi at a food festival in Venezuela in the 1980s Gill recalls they were only two people ldquoI was manning the tandoor outside and he was handling the curries biryani and dal insiderdquoMaking of the legacyFood historian Pushpesh Pant calls him the first celebrity chef of India ldquoNo one respected Indian cuisine or heritage chefs until Imtiaz Qureshi People were obsessed with attending catering college and Le Cordon Bleu and making Continental food at fivestars mdash food that the white man ate Here was a man who didnrsquot speak English had never been to catering school but had great skills He had a personality to match mdash a big man grey hair a crowbar moustache and loud laughter He was confident as well as generousrdquo reminisces PantPant believes that the first step to creating a legacy was to restore the selfrespect of the Indian diner as well as the cooks ldquoPeople had not experienced Awadhi cuisine as fine dine as the offerings were limited to streetstyle chaat such as seekh and galouti kebabs Imtiaz made kormas and kaliyans and vegetables that were slowcooked in traditional copper pots He highlighted Lucknowrsquos vegetarian fare including tamatar ka shorba parwar ka dolma achari baigan baigan ki lonje His shahi tukda was to die forrdquo elaborates PantIn Delhi where Punjabi eateries like Moti Mahal Gulatis and Kake da Dhaba dominated Imtiaz held his own ldquoHe regarded himself to be the custodian of Lakhnawi recipes and had the grace to admit he was not a royal cook He made a good point that butchery goes hand in hand with great cookery without a good butcher no bawarchi can work his magic He has to work with the right cut of meat how long it will take to cook and how much salt it will requirerdquo reveals PantThe second contribution was roping in relatives to join him in the kitchen and training chefs under him This opened the window for Indian chefs to travel overseas and work in Indian restaurants instead of continental kitchensrdquo Pant is hopeful that his legacy will be kept alive by the likes of chefs such as Ranveer Brar Kunal Kapur Sadaf Hussain and Nishant ChaubeyDum pukht dossierOne of the chefs who worked closely with Qureshi was chef Dr Manjit Singh Gill ldquoI collaborated for 40 years until his retirement in 2016 I learnt a lot from his skills and coordinated to create new concepts themes and bespoke caterings in banquets mdash he reported to me due to hierarchy but I looked up to him as my master Until he arrived on the scene there was limited variety of Indian fare in fivestars beyond a few kebab variations handful of curries and dal makhani He created the version of biryani that continues to be served across todayrsquos restaurants He had a unique approach to the cuisinerdquo shares Gill president of the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations and former corporate chef at ITC Hotels Gill and Qureshi combined their strengths ldquoWhile working on dum pukht the challenge was to convert a bulk preparation for an agrave la carte restaurant so that guests could order in portions Today every restaurant is following this trendrdquo suggests GillChef Mukhtar who created his own expressions of Awadhi and Lakhnawi cuisine at Neel at Tote on the Turf and Ummrao at JW Marriott Sahar points out that diners were unaware of the royal food of the nawabs ldquoUnki soch alag thi He set out to make cuisine that both kids and adults could savour Awadhi khana zameen se juda hua hai usme mehnat aur dimag donon ki zaroorat hairdquoAbout the famous dal bukhara Ishtiyaque reveals that it was left on the tandoor bukhari which is how it gets its name overnight in a copper pot ldquoThe cooking was inspired by the process used to make moong gosht mas kaliya and khichdardquo He leaves us with warm moments from the last years with the great chef ldquoAbba loved a wellmade biryani kakori kebab salad and paya Whenever he came home it was a daawatrdquoChef Imtiaz Qureshi the gamechangerDum pukht biryani right Ishijyot SurriAt Mulk our culinary tradition is based on Qureshirsquos technique and inspired by some of his iconic recipes Our dum pukht biryani is carefully arranged in layers with juicy meat or vegetables and finally cooked together under one sealed pot We follow the slow cooking technique as it represents the authentic revival of timehonoured traditions that demonstrate the unmatched artistic finesse as well as the intricate nature of Indian food culturesIshijyot Surri executive chef Mulk AndheriWhen my father opened Khyber in 1958 he served North West Frontier cuisine tweaked to suit Gujarati palates It was slightly sweeter and low on spice There was a classic way to prepare such fare until chef Qureshi arrived on the scene and introduced slow cooking in a fivestar kitchenrdquo recalls Bahl confessing his restaurant doesnrsquot follow this style ldquoWe have a happy problem if we change our menu our regulars will complain Our classic dishes include paneer korma nalli nihari and raan which have remained consistent since its inception Dum cooking is extremely tedious and timeconsuming It hasto be done at leisure in a fivestar kind of environment In our environment itrsquos a challenge to execute itrdquohe signs offSudheer Bahl owner of Khyber Fort