The Mughal Feast: Recipes From The Kitchen Of Emperor Shah Jahan

Love the recipes here.

Great recipes

My book is copyright 2021 (second impression). I reserve the right to redact my review at a later date.This is the shortest of reviews I will be writing. Mainly because I am cracking up at a few reviewers complaining the lack of "food photography" in the book.Salma-ji has done a fantastic work translating and transcreation a cookery cook straight from the imperial kitchen of one of the greatest Mughal emperors of India.I recently cooked Kundan Kaliya from "Dastarkhwan-e Awadh" and although the Awadhi perfected their own style, I am intrigued by the "OG" version of Kundan Kaliya that appears in Salma-ji's "The Mughal Feast." One of the greatest joys of owning this book is kind of like time traveling to peaking at what's cooking in the royal kitchens of Shah Jahan.

I was very excited to get this translation of the 17th century cookbook from the time of Shah Jehan. I'm sorry for the reviewer who complained the book has no photos, but, sadly, there was no photography in the first half of the 17th century. I have been cooking from historical cookbooks almost exclusively for over 20 years, primarily those from the 2nd thru 15th centuries. Foods of the past are often rather different than our expectations, such as perhaps being sweeter than modern Mughal dishes, or much saltier, as in the recipes from the ca. 1590 Ain–i Akbari, a section of the Akbarnamah compiled by Shaikh Abu al–Fazl ibn Mubarak, a friend of Shah Akbar. I think it best to approach historical recipes with an open mind and a sense of adventure. This book has furthered my adventures.

The cover was nice and some of the history. The recipes may have been original although i have my doubts. Every dish was filled with too much sweet !!! The Mughals were masters at balancing their dishes with the right amounts of salt, spice, herbs ... none of these dishes had that balance.

This is the best recipe book ever. The quality of the pages, the paintings in between. Everything is just awesome.

It's the history of mugal era. What they would eat and how they would cook. Its the detail explanation about there food, spices cooking metho.If any one interested for cooking, I like to recommend the book.

If you have someone in your life who is interested in Mughal cuisine, cooking, art, or just Mughal history, get this book for them - or yourself! It's expensive, yes, but the quality is fabulous and you get over 100 Mughal recipes with detailed instructions on high-quality glossy paper, as well as notes about history and a few miniature painting spreads. I love flipping through this book and we enjoy showing it to guests as well. The recipes are easy to follow, though the portions are very kingly (ha). There are no photos of the food, or illustrations, so manage your expectations. This is more of a cookbook for people who are experienced in the kitchen. Think biryanis, types of pulao, naan varieties, barthas, etc. About 95% of them feature lamb as the main ingredient. Enjoy!

This book is not only very interesting, but the recipes are excellent and very 'do-able'. Highly recommend.

The book presents a wonderful blend of culinary history and recipes. We tried out a number of recipes at home, and each time we were surprised by how good the food tasted. As these recipes tell us, the Mughal kitchen used a rather limited variety of ingredients compared to what we use today. There is, for instance, no use of spices like turmeric or chillies or ingredients like tomatoes or potatoes which are so common in contemporary Indian food. On the other hand we see use of such thickening agents like rice paste which have largely gone out of practice. This makes the Mughal dishes compiled by Salma Hussain taste wonderfully unique and very different from anything that you might be able to order today in a restaurant. And of course the sensation that you are tasting the exact same thing that emperor Shahjahan tasted more than three hundred years ago is priceless! Also, the lavish use of Mughal miniature paintings in this book gives it an aesthetic appeal that is usually missing from most cookbooks brought out by Indian publishers. This book is a true feast for the senses and it is a must have!