Move over burgers, pizzas and pastas, it is time for succulent Lucknowi galawati kebabs, flavourful mutton nihari and mutton yakhni pulao for the cricket teams of India and England.
The specialties from the ‘city of nawabs’ have made it to the food orders placed by the team members, crew and former cricketers, who arrived a couple of days ago for the most-awaited ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup cricket match between India and England at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
Those engaged in the catering service say the clash between the ‘Men in Blue’ and the ‘defending champion’ England seems less of a cricket match and more of a food fest, with a wide range of orders being placed by the players and their associates.
“Of them, many have placed orders in advance, even before landing in Lucknow. They are great food lovers. We are leaving no stone unturned to serve them the best of the Awadhi cuisines,” said Naved Amin, owner of Kanpur-based Al-Amin, the catering firm in-charge of food for the team at the stadium.
RESHMI TIKKA FOR IRFAN PATHAN, LUCKNOWI MUTTON PULAO FOR NASSER HUSSAIN
Although there is a long list of those who placed the orders, Amin got ready to share some.
“For instance, Irfan Pathan, a former cricketer-turned-commentator, has placed an order of reshmi tikka and fish tikka. Former cricketers and commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar will be served Shahi mutton Nihari, whereas Nasser Hussain, a former captain of England cricket team and a British commentator, will be served his all-time favourite Lucknowi mutton pulao and chicken kalimirch. Other than this, we are also preparing yakhni pulao, macchli pasanda, chicken reshmi tikka and a wide range of other non-vegetarian dishes for them,” Amin said.
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Cricketers and their associates would also be served dishes from Lucknow’s world famous eateries and non-vegetarian joints. Lucknow’s tunday kebab tops the list, idris mutton biryani comes next, followed by Raheem’s nihari that is high on taste and low on spices. The organizers have arranged for stalls from the eateries at the hotel to give them the flavours of Lucknow, non-vegetarians’ food paradise.
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This is not the first time that Al-Amin is serving the Indian cricket team.
Recounting the memories of the T-20 match between India and England in Kanpur’s Greenpark stadium in 2017, Amin said, “As most of the cricketers and former cricketers are familiar with our taste, we were assigned the task to cater to the cricketers at Greenpark stadium in 2017. The food was much appreciated. After we left, to our surprise, we got a call from captain Virat Kohli who not only appreciated the food, especially non-vegetarian starters we served for lunch, but also placed an order for the team’s dinner. This was the first time that outside food was served at a hotel that strictly prohibits it.”
“At first, we were not allowed to enter the hotel. But on telling the security that Kohli had called us, after thorough frisking, we were allowed to move up to the lobby, where we delivered the food,” he recollected.
The praise from Kohli and MS Dhoni was what Amin called “the best moment and reward for the good work”.
ENGLISH CRICKETER MOEEN ALI SOUGHT NIHARI RECIPE
Another memorable moment of the 2017 match was when Moeen Ali, the vice-captain of the England cricket team, approached the Al-Amin team and sought the nihari recipe. “It was an honor for us. We told him the entire process, how nihari is made, right from the marination, the kind of meat pieces required, the masalas used to add flavours and most importantly the slow fire cooking until the bone marrows release flavour into the stew. He made a note of it and took it along,” said Amin.
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