dadi maa ki kahani

 dadi maa ki kahani about Shah jahan :

Born on the night of Thursday the 5th January,1592 at Lahore in the within the 36th year of his grandfather,s reign. His mother was the Rajput princess Manmati or Jagat Gosaln whom Salim had married in 1589. She was the daughter of the Mota Raja Uday Singh.

Shah jahan,s dinning Habits:

Shah jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor, under whose reign the Mughal empire reached the height of its culture glory. 

dadi maa said Shah jahan was famous for is competency on the battlefield, his knowledge in political beliefs, and his interest in architecture.

However, a motivating and lesser known facet of Shah Jahan was his unique culinary tastes. Here are a some facts from the nuskha-e-shah jahani that reveals the diet and dinning patterns of the erstwhile Mughal ruler.

Quantity and quality:

Like any standard royal court, most of the dishes were prepared in bulk, the dishes were prepared for many guests on a commonplace and hence, huge quantities of ingredients were used.

The emperors dined with their queens, except on festive occasions  once they when they dined with nobles and countries. 

Since an exceptionally large numbers of dishes were served at each meal, a mechanical system of staff undertook the chopping and cleaning and washing and grinding.

Food was cooked in rainwater mixed with water brought in from the Ganges. An elaborate chain of commands was given to servers who ensured the correct food was served within the right order at the proper time on the correct occasion.

Long hours at the dastarkhwan:

dadi maa said Shah Jahan was a slow eater, he loved to enjoy every morsel he ate. During his reign, banquets ran for hours Emperor ended up spending long hours at the dastarkhwan or the royal dinning hall.

His love for mangoes :

according to dadi maa Shah Jahan,s love for mangoes was a known fact and each time, the emperor received mangoes as gifts he personally got the burden and quality checked said dadi maa. He once got angry together with his son, Aurngzaib who had eaten mangoes from his favorite tree within the Deccan plateau rather than sending the mangoes to him.

The royal dietitian:

An interesting fact about the Mughal royal kitchen is that it had been royal physician who planned the menu day by day. This was to ensure that medicinally beneficial ingredients were included in each dish.

This way the people within royal court may be assured that the food they ate wasn't  only good for his or her taste buds but also their body.

Culinary paradise:

Based on the nuskha-e-shahjahani, it is inferred that it had been not only the royal kitchen, but even the bazaars that were crammed  with different flavors from everywhere known world. The town was  called a paradise of food then, with records from the time talking to shah Jahan,s reputation as a gastronome.

His last suppers:

Deposed by his son Aurangzaib, Emperor was imprisoned in agar fort and remand there for eight years until his death in 1666. Legends narrate how Aurangzaib ordered that his father be allowed only 1 ingredient of his preference and Emperor chose chickpeas because that would be cooked in multiply ways.