Re-inventing Kakori Kabab

ATTEMPTING TO revamp the dying glory and art of preparing famous ?Kakori Kabab?, the Hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace in the City has started a five-day food festival.

ATTEMPTING TO revamp the dying glory and art of preparing famous ‘Kakori Kabab’, the Hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace in the City has started a five-day food festival.

HT Image

Some of the cuisines planned in the festival like Kakori Kabab, Patthar Kabab or Frontier Roasted Lamb are not easy to find, even where it originated. Then, what makes the hotel go for these ‘antique cuisines’?

“During the last couple of years, we have been organising food festivals of different local, regional & international cuisines and we at WelcomHeritage firmly believe that promotion of regional cuisines also helps in promoting domestic tourism,” replies senior vice-president, Hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Sanjeev Nayar.

Food & Beverage Manager Amitabh Roy said, “The Mongol invaders brought Kabab with them. At that time it was just meat sprinkled with salt, which the Mongols barbecued and gobbled. Soon, it caught the fancy of the Indian chefs and they perfected it to a sublime art. Rest is history”.

Historical evidences mention about Kakori - a small hamlet on the outskirts of Lucknow, in the Lucknow - Malihabad mango-belt, which has a special mention of ‘Kakori Conspiracy’ case, when a band of freedom fighters looted the train carrying the British Government Treasury money at this obscure place.

Ten days of incessant research and design efforts resulted in the now famous ‘Kakori Kababs’, which was as far as perfection could go.

“The irony is that the aroma of Kakori kabab has spread across the world but this kabab has disappeared from the town itself”, said Sharib Kausar, eminent Urdu poet who lives in Kakori.