A One Armed Cook and His 125 Ingredient Recipe At Tunday Kababi

A kabab dish that is soft, luscious, and leaves behind a heavenly aftertaste of Indian spices. Tunday kabab, belonging to the same land of Tehzeeb and Nafasat, is a combination of flavour and a texture that melts in the mouth. If this isn’t enough, the story behind these tender kababs, and their maker, also has a fascinating twist.

Tunday Kababi (Source: Hindustan Times)

Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, is full of stories and innuendos. One can uncover these stories in every street. Besides its architectural wonders, literature, and hospitality, the city never fails to enchant visitors with its rich and lavish culinary offerings. While there are a variety of vegetarian recipes in the local Awadhi cooking, Lucknow's much-loved meaty showstopper — a melt-in-the-mouth delicacy called Galawati Kabab from Tunday — is something one can’t miss.

Originally, kababs were meant to be chewy, not buttery. But because of a Nawab who refused to give up his meat, and a chef who went above and beyond to make this happen, all this soon changed. The nawab of Awadh at the time, Asaf-Ud-Daula, is said to have maintained his love of his favourite dish even as he grew older. He then held a competition for the chefs and khansama to bring him the most tender kababs that would melt in mouth without sacrificing flavour. He also declared that the maker of such fine kababs would receive royal patronage.

Hearing this, a one-armed chef named Haji Murad Ali entered the competition and, to his surprise, won. With a combination of more than a hundred Indian spices, he made what the Nawab felt were the best kababs he had ever eaten. Thus, he won the king’s heart and the hearts of many generations after him.

This charm has continued till date in Lucknow. Today, it's hard to find someone in the city who hasn’t heard of Galawati Kababs, or Tunday Kababi — the eatery that continues to make them. This shop gets its name from its founder. After Murad lost an arm in an accident, he had only one functional arm left. In local vernacular, a person with one hand was often called 'Tunday', a name that passed onto the dish, giving rise to “Galawati Kababs” or “Tunday Ke Kabab".

Haji Murad Ali, the titular ‘Tunday’, started his business on the busy street of Gol Darwaza in the chowk neighbourhood of Lucknow in 1905. Here, he sold his delectable kababs for a century and became the part of local history. People gobbled up the delicate kababs he made for the city's dwellers for nearly nine decades. Today, his grandson, Usman Ali, carries the same legacy forward. He says:

“The combination of spices used in making are very light on the stomach and helps with digestion.”

The recipe for these kebabs remains a closely guarded secret, handed down from generation to generation. According to estimates, 125 different spices need to be mixed in a specific ratio to give these succulent kebabs their unmatched flavour and texture.

Many celebrities have savoured the restaurant's delicious kebabs over the years, including Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor. So next time you are in Lucknow and are fond of kababs, be sure to enjoy these melt-in-your-mouth treats at Tunday Kababi.