When Lucknow became a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy

When Lucknow became a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy . On 31 October 2025 Lucknow became a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, the second Indian city to hold the title after Hyderabad. This Saturday Spotlight session goes into what that recognition is actually for. Not a list of recipes, but the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb the food grew out of, and a cooking tradition running back more than three hundred years to the Nawabs of Awadh. S.V. Singh walks through the nomination itself and what UNESCO weighed, the traditional recipes, the street food culture, the working food economy and how sustainably it holds together. The historical section carries the best story, a battle of wits at the table between Wajid Ali Shah and a prince from Delhi, where the sweets arrived tasting of salt and the savoury dishes came back sweet. Then the craft. Nazakat and Nafasat, and kitchens organised so precisely that pulao, salan, korma, fish and birds each had their own cook. Potli masala, where the spices steep in a pouch and then leave the pot, so the gravy carries the flavour without any grit. Rules nobody wrote down but everybody followed, coriander on the turmeric dishes and never on korma, the better cuts of meat always resting on top. Galawati and shami kebab, dum pukht, nihari kulcha, Awadhi biryani, and the rare kundan qaliya finished with gold and silver leaf. Nimish, shahi tukda, malai pan, kesar phirni, makhan malai when it gets cold. Kachori in the morning and chaat in the evening. Jitendra Kumar, IAS and Secretary of Tourism, drove the nomination. Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath both congratulated the city. The video ends where the credit belongs, with the chefs, home cooks and families who kept all of this going without titles. . Chapters: 00:00:00 Why Lucknow is the City of Gastronomy 00:01:50 The Hidden "Nazakat" in Every Dish 00:03:16 How Lucknow Earned the UNESCO Title 00:06:54 Legendary Food Wars of the Nawabs 00:09:30 Inside the Secrets of Royal Kitchens 00:11:11 Unwritten Rules of Serving Awadhi Food 00:12:50 The Passion Behind Lucknawi Cooking 00:14:18 More Than Food: A Shared Cultural Legacy . About Jashn-e-Rekhta Jashn-e-Rekhta is the world’s largest cultural festival celebrating the beauty, depth, and living spirit of the Urdu language. Held annually, it brings together poets, musicians, writers, thinkers, and artists from across the world to create a space of poetry, music, conversations, and storytelling. From soul-stirring mushairas and spellbinding musical evenings to intimate dialogues and immersive cultural experiences, the festival is where language turns into emotion and heritage finds a contemporary voice. More than a festival, Jashn-e-Rekhta is a movement that keeps Urdu alive, relevant, and deeply connected across generations. . #lucknow #awadhicuisine #unesco #lucknowfood #gangajamunitehzeeb #jashnerekhta #galawatikebab . About Rekhta Foundation: Rekhta Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to preserving, promoting, and celebrating the Urdu language and its rich literary and cultural legacy. Through digital archives, learning platforms, publications, festivals, and community initiatives, the Foundation works to make Urdu accessible and meaningful for audiences worldwide. By bridging classical traditions with modern platforms and voices, Rekhta Foundation ensures that the language continues to inspire, connect, and evolve with time. . IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Rekhta Foundation. All rights reserved. Unauthorised downloading, clipping, re-uploading, or reuse of this content (audio/video/visuals) is strictly prohibited without written permission. . External Links: Website: https://rekhta.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jashnerekhtaofficial/ Rekhta Books: https://rekhtabooks.com/ Rekhta Learning: https://rekhtalearning.com/