Immediately after the Ghadar of 1857 the Mughal princes were either killed or had escaped from ShahJahanabad. It took many years for the remaining Mughals to be rehabilitated in Delhi and given pensions.
One prince had escaped to District Farrukhabad and when restructuring was talking place, the British appointed him the Tehsildar of Farrukhabad.
He became very close to the ancestors of my in laws who had settled in Shamsabad in the same district. They had come to India from Oran in the reign of Shah Jahan after the fall of the Safavid dynasty.
A popular dish in the family is called Tehsildari Qorma and is said to have come from the Mughal Prince’s kitchen.
It’s an exotic blend of rabdi (reduced milk), Khoya, balai and khoya. All are whipped together and added to a cooked paste of onion, ginger garlic paste.
The recipe is part of a recently compiled book By Hina Abbas and Rahi Safawi called Dastarkhwan e Shamsabad.
So when Business Standard wanted to do a story and shoot for a story on lost recipes I asked Hina for moral support and she readily came.
I had cooked the Qorma once some years ago and had forgotten the process.
Hina showed me the process
Enjoy!
http://ranasafvi.com/tehsildari-qorma/
The recipe
