Mughlai Banquet Menu

Sanjana — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:07:00 +0000

Saffron and Lemon Shrikhand Doughnuts – a recipe for my new Food Network UK chef page – they’re perfect for finishing off a grandiose banquet.

After a good few weeks of cooking deliciously rich and decadent dinners (it’s been hell having to eat them all by myself, I tell you), I’m finally ready to compile a menu of the best Mughlai-inspired dishes from KO Rasoi.

The aim of the game was to put together something truly majestic – something which will leave your guests speechless (partly because their mouths will be preoccupied devouring the meal).

Mughlai cuisine is one of my new favourites, with its use of only the most aromatic spices, flowers and nuts. Indeed, it’s no wonder it was reserved for only kings and queens of the Mughal Empire.

Shahi Paneer Stuffed Okra

By now you must know how I love contrasting flavours and textures, and if you do too, you need to try this. Juicy okra stuffed with homemade paneer which has been spiked with golden sultanas and heady fennel.

The individual okra are then drenched in a sweet and tangy sauce laced with cardamom and made creamy with ground cashews.

Melt in the Mouth Paneer Kofta

The softest melt in the mouth kofta coated with the silkiest, delicate spicy-sweet sauce made with a honey, fennel, cardamom, tomato, almond and cashew nut sauce.

Creamy Pistachio and Cauliflower Curry

I’ve laced this with whole black peppercorns which soften in the simmered sauce and give the overall dish a very deep, gentle heat. The delicate flavour of sweet pistachios is in fact, a beautiful match for tender, textured cauliflower. It also stains the white cauliflower with the lightest hue of green imaginable.

Mughlai Apricot Biryani

With this biryani recipe, juicy apricots and pineapples are layered up with fluffy rice, spicy potatoes, sweet onions, aromatic saffron and kewra water (screwpine extract).

Peshwari Naan

Sultanas and coconut are very traditional ingredients in Peshwari Naan, which can be stuffed with a sweet filling and cooked in a super hot tandoor (clay oven). You can be sure that a good naan will be soft, slightly chewy, a little charred in places and finally, drenched in butter.

Classic Shrikhand

I’m adding this to the banquet menu not because it’s an authentic Mughlai dish, but because it’s rich, opulent and incredibly well-suited to this particular style of cooking.

Persian Chocolate Truffle Tart

The delicate flavour of white chocolate, with honey and rosewater is the basis of the tart, whilst the saffron adds a luxurious perfumed flavour.

Rose and Pistachio Baklava

Sweet rose rice and traditional spiced nuts are enveloped in thin, crisp filo pastry layers, then drenched in sugar syrup and left to absorb until chewy and divine.

Cinnamon and Orange Blossom Kataifi

Not sickly sweet, but slightly sweet, nutty and deliciously crunchy. The kind of sweet that has a delicate spice and fruitiness, so much so that when you take a bite it sings through your veins.

Qawah

A spiced espresso-style after dinner beverage which can accompany desserts and pastries like the ones pictured above

Spiced Milk

Spiced milk is the new hot chocolate – this is all you need to know.

Gather the troops, drag them into the kitchen (regardless of whether they’re kicking and screaming) and create a Mughlai-inspired banquet.

I’m assuming my invitation is already in the post.

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Mughlai Banquet Menu