Uttar Pradesh Thali

We were so excited to cook this meal from the most populous state of India - Uttar Pradesh. With cities like Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, Banaras, Mathura, Meerut, Kanpur and so many more - we knew we would get a chance to make a wide variety of dishes in this thali. This thali is an amalgamation of some trademark dishes like Mathura ke dubki wale aloo and popular dishes from the Lucknow Awadhi cuisine like Bhindi ka Salan. Is your mouth watering yet? Let’s dive in deeper then.

Baingan ke Lonje (Link to recipe)

Not sure about you, but we have heard about this dish in a number of Indian movies\shows and have always wondered what it was. Learnt that in this dish, eggplants are coated with a caramelized onion spice paste, sauteed and finally finished with a flourish of lemon juice. It can be served either as a snack\appetizer or a side dish. Very interesting and tasty.

Bhindi ka salan (Link to recipe)

This is a popular Awadhi dish from Lucknow and honestly also has a presence in Hyderabadi cuisine. Okra simmered in a peanut and sesame sauce, this dish is lip-smacking good. This dish also complimented the Veg Tahiri (rice dish) very well.

Boondi Raita (Link to recipe)

I don’t think that Boondi Raita can be associated to any one Indian state. It is too omnipresent for that. However we learnt that this is a very popular dish at weddings in Uttar Pradesh. A yogurt based dish with Boondi (fried chickpea balls), the true taste of this dish comes from the addition of black Salt and freshly roasted and ground cumin powder.

Mathura ke dubki wale aloo (Link to recipe)

We always love finding blogs written by folks who are deeply passionate about food. In the article linked above, the author (who hails from Mathura) describes in detail how this dish differs from any other Aloo gravy dish. Adding tomatoes to the dish is sacrilege. And the gravy has to be simmered in a cast-iron skillet with freshly ground masalas for hours till it takes on an almost green black tinge. It is only then that this dish can aim to be any where close to what the Mathura vendors sell as an accompaniment to Khasta Kachoris for breakfast. We loved reading the blog and followed the recipe precisely and were simply blown away by the taste. Highly recommend this dish and the blog!!

Satpaita Dal (Link to recipe)

This is a common lentil dish eaten in Uttar Pradesh especially during the winter months. Fresh spinach is cooked with two or three types of lentils and lightly spiced. I have used Toor dal and Udad dal in this recipe. I found this dish to be a scrumptious lunch in itself, as a soup, during the week.

Vegetable Tahiri (Link to recipe)

Similar to the Vegetable Pulao, this is an Awadhi rice dish cooked with vegetables and whole spices. It is a simpler cousin to the more laborious Biryani and as mentioned above pairs excellently with the Bindi ka salan.

Awadhi Chicken Korma (Link to recipe)

The chicken is sauteed in ghee and the gravy is slowly simmered with fried onion paste, tomato puree, cream, blended cashews and a lot of whole and ground spices. This is a rich royal dish and ideal for those Sundays when you want to have a heavy lunch and follow it up with a nap.

Bedmi Poori (Link to recipe)

The Bedmi Poori is eaten for breakfast in Uttar Pradesh along with the Dubke wale Aloo. What sets this dish apart from the normal pooris is the addition of a paste of soaked and blended Udad Dal. This gives an additional dimension to the pooris making them crispy.

There were still so many dishes we wanted to make but after all there is only so much time in a weekend. We couldn’t get to the Mathura Peda that we really wanted to make for dessert. But we know we will sometime in the future. The Mathura Peda honestly deserves it’s own blog article :)

So what did we learn from making the Uttar Pradesh Thali. With a state that is bordered by 9 other states and with the rich history that it has, it is almost impossible to come up with just one thali that captures it’s essence. Different parts of the state have different trademark dishes and food spans blurred state lines. Hope to some day visit this state whether it is to see the famous Taj Mahal in Agra or to see the Ganges river in Benares. And of course to eat some of this amazing food in person.