Image: Miansari66 · CC0
Nuskha-e-Shahjahani
- Year
- ms
- Era
- Undated
- Origin
- India (Mughal) · South Asia
- Language
- Persian
- Category
- South Asia
Nuskha-e-Shahjahani is a Persian-language compilation of recipes assembled at the Mughal court during the reign of Shah Jahan, preserving the imperial kitchen's repertoire of pulaos, naans, breads, sherbets, and curative preparations. Surviving in manuscript form before later printed editions, the work documents the refined Indo-Persian culinary synthesis of the seventeenth century and remains a foundational source for the study of Mughal court gastronomy and its lasting influence on South Asian cooking.
Cooking from this book
Biryani
Signature dishFew dishes evoke the splendour of Shah Jahan's kitchens as vividly as biryani, the layered rice and meat preparation perfumed with saffron, rosewater and warm spices. The Nuskha-e-Shahjahani, compiled for the emperor's table, records several versions of this celebrated pulao tradition, reflecting the Persianate refinement that defined imperial Mughal cookery. Its inclusion here marks a pivotal moment when Central Asian rice cookery met Indian ingredients to produce one of the subcontinent's most enduring culinary emblems.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
