How Lucknow’s kitchens — from khansamas to street carts — cooked up a UNESCO honour

With this, Lucknow has become only the second Indian city after Hyderabad to earn the title.

The six-month-long process recorded over 70,000 voices, including those of 20,000 street vendors, home-based cooks, and celebrity chefs. It also documented 1,500 restaurants and other 600 gastronomy-related enterprises.

The effort behind the city’s candidature went far beyond kebabs, biryanis, and makhan malai, it was found.

Taking note of the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 1 wrote on X, “Lucknow is synonymous with a vibrant culture, at the core of which is a great culinary culture. I am glad that UNESCO has recognised this aspect of Lucknow and I call upon people from around the world to visit Lucknow and discover its uniqueness.”

The exercise, commissioned by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, highlighted how, over the past 15 years, women chefs running businesses from their homes have opened their kitchens to share authentic culinary experiences, not only of Awadhi non-vegetarian cuisine but also of traditional Kayastha, Khatri, and Baniya vegetarian cuisines. It also underlined how street vendors contribute significantly to both the city’s and the state’s economy.

According to Lambah, the essence of Lucknow’s food culture bridges royal kitchens and street carts, Hindu and Muslim homes, memory and modernity. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastava)

The dossier, prepared by heritage expert Abha Narain Lambah and her team who were roped in to “capture the essence of Lucknow’s food culture”, showcased how the city’s food scene is an amalgamation of Persian and Indian culinary traditions. Alongside famous dishes such as adraki gosht, chukandar gosht, mutton qorma, yakhni pulao, and zafrani murgh, they highlighted vegetarian delicacies like baingan ka raita, methi chaaman, nimona, stuffed bitter gourd, tehri, phirni, kali gajar ka halwa, sheer korma, and shahi tukda.

The team spent months visiting bawarchi khanas, heritage homes, and local bazaars, recording oral histories from the Mehmoodabad royal family and Kayastha and Khatri households who have preserved family recipes for generations.

According to Lambah, the essence of Lucknow’s food culture bridges royal kitchens and street carts, Hindu and Muslim homes, memory and modernity.

Not only traditional families and popular eateries but also street vendors and celebrity chefs, including Manish Mehrotra, who hails from Lucknow, contributed to the exercise. The dossier also featured a series of short films and reels by Lucknow-based filmmaker Maruf Kalman, chronicling the city’s food — from bustling tea stalls and chaat joints to kebab counters and festive kitchens.

“The food here represents culture — its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb,” Lambah told The Indian Express. “While we often hear of the Nawabi cuisine, communities like the Kayasthas and Khatris have also preserved traditional recipes. From aristocratic dishes to street food, every layer of the city’s culinary heritage was represented.”

She added, “Lucknow’s food blends Persian and Indian traditions. While the dishes may be simple, the cooking techniques—like dum pukht (slow cooking)—and the use of fine ingredients such as kesar and kewra engage all five senses. Many family recipes, including vegetarian ones like kathal ke kebab, continue to be passed down through generations.”

According to the document, the tourism sector in Lucknow contributes around Rs 2,500 crore annually to Uttar Pradesh’s economy. It also noted that “street food is an essential part of Lucknow’s culinary scene, employing around 20,000 vendors who contribute significantly to the local economy.”

The report said that over the last 15 years, a growing number of women entrepreneurs have entered the home-cooked food segment, leveraging traditional recipes for economic empowerment — a modern expression of Lucknow’s timeless gastronomic heritage.

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