review for "Culinary Delights of the Maharajas: Exotic Dishes from the Princely House of Sailana"
I was reading a book, a few years ago, in which it was mentioned that food was different from one group or class to another. I didn’t understand it (although it wasn’t fully described here as well) until the time when I was reading the book titled “Cooking Delights of the maharajas -Exotic Dishes of the Princely House of sail“. It was written by His Highness Shri Digvijaya Singh-from the palace sail Y sail is a small town present in Madhya Pradesh. It was published in the year of 1982 in India. was posted by Vakils, Feffer and Simons SA. Ltd, Mumbai. The price of the book is 400 rupees. The ISBN is 978-81-8462-026-9. The total number of pages is 198.
The moment I read the title of the book, I was very impressed for several reasons:
1. One can be delighted after reading the book and trying to cook the dishes mentioned in it.
2. The word “The maharajas“It meant more than one king. I assumed the recipes were different and passed down from one generation to the next.
3. The dishes are exotic by nature.
4. The recipes will be from the land of sail exclusively.
The cover was adopted and showed one of the popular paintings of the royal family of sail (although it is not mentioned anywhere in the book). The back of the book gives us the details of the author and his qualities and abilities. The 15th edition of the book was published in the year 2015. The photograph on the 3rd page shows different types of copper vessels used to cook various dishes in the royal kitchens of the city. My attention was drawn to the beautiful rectangular box for storing all kinds of spices and powders. Now I hardly find one available in our country. I wish I had one of them in my possession and add beauty to my kitchen too.
The author has dedicated his book to his father, late Highness Raja Sir Dilip Singhji of Sailana. One can see the seal of the royal family placed above the photograph of the author’s father. I had never seen one in my life! The author acknowledges other royal families present in India such as Prince Shivaji Rao Holkar and Princess Shalini Devi Holkar of Indore. The foreword has been written by none other than the late Her Highness Gayatri Devi – Rajmata of Jaipur. According to her, the author is “not only a gourmet but a superb cook.” There are a good number of color photographs of various dishes and foods presented for royal feasts.
The contents section is given in detail and these are listed as follows:
a) 54 recipes prepared with meat or lamb
b) 9 recipes prepared with chicken
c) 10 recipes prepared with fish
d) 8 recipes prepared from the meat of animals after hunting them
e) 21 recipes with different cereals such as rice, millet, etc.
f) 50 recipes prepared from various types of vegetables
g) 12 varieties of sweet dishes
I liked the “Preface” section of the book. The secrets of the royal families are given to the readers and the best ones are:
1. The maharajas they were the connoisseurs of good food (mentioned in the 2nd paragraph).
2. Fine kitchens and the best cooks (mentioned in the 2nd paragraph) are hired.
3. There is a separate cook for each recipe (again mentioned in the second paragraph) (I was just imagining the total number of cooks present in royal kitchens. No wonder the royal families of Turkey have dedicated a huge palace to cooks ). and guides for cooking, chopping vegetables, tasting, guiding other cooks, measuring quantities, etc.).
4. It was the “status symbol” for kings to show “the most unusual type of dishes” to their guests.
5. The secrets of cooking various recipes were never shared by cooks and were passed down from one generation to the next (usually only from father to son).
6. Some of the exotic recipes and the process of cooking exotic dishes are lost because they were not passed on from one individual to another.
7. The author credits his father for collecting the recipes of the last 100 years. He collected them from various cooks present throughout the country and had old recipe books in different languages like sanskrit, urdu and persian. He translated some of them.
8. Cooking is not an art however it is a scientific process.
9. The differences presented by the different types of spicy powders or masalas are due to the amount that is used in their preparation in the kitchens.
10. The author has made an effort to share some of the recipes with his readers only (I don’t know about the other recipes and when they will be shared with us).
In the “Useful Tips” section, the author discusses the following points:
has. It explicitly denies the use of stainless steel and aluminum pans for cooking. They were only used to boil things (Oh my gosh, we use these metal utensils for cooking in contemporary times).
b. The different types of utensils used are:
dekhchi-pot type of utensil used to cook meats
tapestry-extensive utensils used for cooking and boiling rice and curries
Kadhai– Deep and wide pan.
Pressure cookers: to prepare dishes based on lentils, rice and to soften tough meats such as trotters
vs Differences between
Yo)bhunao It is the process of cooking ground spices in a small amount of oil, at high temperatures and adding small amounts of water after a few minutes.
ii) Baghar what does it mean to temper or season
iii) Dhugar means technical tuxedo
iv) fool means cook over low heat and the utensil is covered with a lid and sealed with batter
v) kalia It is a curry prepared with water or milk.
saw) Korma it is a curry prepared with ghee or oil
(vii)”make pyaza” means cooking with some vegetable such as cauliflower, peas, potato, etc.
d) Details had been discussed regarding the amounts used to prepare pastes, seasonings or to enhance the flavor of a particular dish.
The weaknesses of the book are:
a) The recipes are not exclusively from sail only.
b) The author mentions other recipes from other regions too like Rajasthan, Bhopal, Delhi, Jhabua, Kashmir, Persia, Nepal, Hyderabad etc. They are 24 in number.
c) Shared recipes for dishes made with meat from hunted animals are limited to rabbits and wild boars. During those days, the hunting of animals was not restricted to just these animals. Recipes for other dishes are not mentioned in the book.
d) There are other exotic dishes from other royal families across India. Why were they not mentioned? I wonder about other dishes from the royal kitchens of Lucknow, Gujarat, Jammu, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bengal worth mentioning in the book (they may be in the footnotes).
e) The recipe sections for snacks, salads, chutneys, the book is missing curd preparations, pickles and soups. Other than this, there are various dishes prepared separately at each and every season. This is not mentioned anywhere in the book.
f) In the photographs, three or four plates are placed and fit into the book. This was not really good. The colors on the plate show turbidity and are not very attractive to the eyes.
Excellent points to note in the book are:
a) The sections are divided according to the themes and sub-themes of the book.
b) In the recipes minute details about the preparation of the dish have been indicated.
c) The meanings of certain words have been given by the author.
d) The photographs are given in good number in the book (although not in the brand).
e) Some of the rare recipes are shared in the book as lamb ke dahi badas (lamb dumplings placed in the curd), porridge prepared with garlic, etc.
