Lucknow’s Tunday Kababi open, but loses USP: Buffalo meat
Tunday Kababi, one of Lucknow’s most iconic eateries, has stopped selling kebabs made of buffalo meat and is now offering chicken kebabs instead at its outlets in the old city and Nazirabad, days after chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses across Uttar Pradesh.
Tunday Kababi, one of Lucknow’s most iconic eateries, has stopped selling kebabs made of buffalo meat and is now offering chicken kebabs instead at its outlets in the old city and Nazirabad, days after chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses across Uttar Pradesh.
Mohammad Usman, whose grandfather established Tunday Kababi in 1905 and who is now the owner, also confirmed their outlet in the old city was closed for a day on Wednesday because of a shortage of buffalo meat.
“There is a problem in procuring buffalo meat at the moment and hence we had no option but to stop selling the kebabs that used to be our USP,” Usman told Hindustan Times.
A visit to Lucknow is incomplete without tasting the melt-in-the-mouth galouti kababs at Tunday Kababi and hundreds of people jostle through the crowds on the cramped streets of the Old City to savour them.
“These kebabs used to be among the most-sold mainly because of their taste and affordability,” Usman said adding that about 60kg of buffalo meat was consumed each day in the outlets.
Closure of illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses has been among the pre-poll commitments of Adityanath’s BJP, which was voted to power in the state recently with a massive majority.
The saffron party seems to be acting on its promise, with a number of abattoirs across Uttar Pradesh being subjected to raids and shutdowns.
Buffalo meat preparations are sold the most not just in Tundey Kababi’s outlets but across various other popular eateries like Rahim’s Kulcha Nahari shop as well.
“Our adversaries would like to raise the pitch against us but let’s be very clear we are not against authorised and licensed slaughterhouses. But anything illegal cannot be justified and would certainly invite action,” UP minister Siddharth Nath Singh said.
Lucknow is among the several districts in the state where a comprehensive verification drive is underway to ascertain the number of legal slaughter houses and meat shops.
Police have launched a crackdown on slaughterhouses across the state, triggering panic, with butchers and meat unit owners fearing for their livelihood. Shops selling chicken and mutton, which is legal, were shut in many parts of the state, fearing action.