I love history, I love food. With this as the background, it’s a no brainer that I loved, ” The Lucknow Cookbook” by the mother and daughter team of Chand Sur and Padma Shri Sunita Kohli, the famous interior decorator. This book of 225 pages, each one worth reading carefully has been published by Aleph in 2017. As specified in the title the book is centred around the city of Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh in North India.
Lucknow, the capital of the Nawabs of Oudh, has had a special place in Indian history. It is renowned for its culture and customs. In more senses than one, it is the cultural capital of North India. No one who has visited there can come away without carrying memories of a Nawabi culture which sounds almost quaint now in the hustle and bustle of 21st century India. It is in this setting that Sunita Kohli shares family recipes handed down to her by her mother Chand Sur and other family members, friends and relatives. Chand first came to Lucknow in 1948 as a young bride from Quetta, in the days following the tumultuous Partition of British India into India and Pakistan.
Though the story of Chand Sur covers a mere 20 odd pages, they are full of life and evoke fond memories of a period long gone by. Continue reading ““The Lucknow Cookbook” by Chand Sur and Sunita Kohli”
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