10-Janpath gets the taste of Chote Nawab

IT WAS party-time at 10-Janpath on Thursday, the day when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi retained her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat with a record margin. And Lucknow’s Chote Nawab rushed the food packet on time!

The ‘chote nawab’ (read Rahul Gandhi!) of the Gandhi household who had campaigned extensively for his mother was there in Delhi too to savour the joy of victory.

Back home, in Lucknow, it was celebration of a different kind at ‘Chote Nawab’ the well-known restaurant at Hotel Sagar International that is owned by a die hard Congressman, presently Union Minister Akhilesh Das. Both the consultant chef Ishtiyaque Qureshi and Anees Khan, manager (operations) of ‘Chote Nawab’ were busy contemplating how to make Sonia Gandhi’s party an even more sumptuous affair. The famous restaurant has a unique connection with the Gandhis.

For whenever the Gandhis visit their constituencies—Rae Bareli and Amethi—it is Lucknow’s ‘Chote Nawab’  that keeps their taste buds tickling.

“When Soniaji had come to file her nominations along with Rahulji we had been asked to send the gelawati kebabs, parathas, roomali rotis, kakori kebabs, ulte tawe ka paratha, kareli ki nihari, mahi tikka, mutton korma, malai phirni,” says Anees.

Both Sonia Gandhi and her MP son have been regular customers of ‘Chote Nawab’ apparently bowled by the mouthwatering fare served by the restaurant.

“While Soniaji prefers the restaurant’s gol boti ka gosht, murg kastoori, kakori kebabs, veg gelawati, biryani, dum gosht, zauk-e-shahi, paneer khushnuma, paneer birbali etc for Rahulji it is dal-e-khaas, gelawati gosht, parathas and various other varieties of chicken and mutton that are unique to Chote Nawab,” says Ishtiyaque Qureshi.

The restaurant has been packing the lip smacking fare to Delhi as well. “On various occasions our preparations have been rushed to Delhi. We feel happy that the Gandhis like our preparations,” says Anees.

He says that whenever Gandhis visit their constituencies, their emissary, Satyendra Singh, always comes calling with a request to pack-it-all-up.

“Once we sent phirni. But, Rahulji loved it so much that he ordered for more. We had run out of stock by then. It’s always a pleasure to serve people who enjoy their food and Gandhis certainly are great food lovers,” Anees adds.

The ‘Chote Nawab’ is ready to make the victory of Sonia Gandhi even more sweeter as it has only a couple of days introduced some new varieties that were not available anywhere in the city so far.

“We have introduced dora kebab, raan-e-sikandari and lab-e-mashooq a couple of days back. While the first two are non-veg preparations the last is an ice cream, which we assure you is markedly different from any that you might have tasted anywhere so far. Obviously Soniaji would visit her constituency along with her family for a thanksgiving and that’s when we would send these delicacies to them,” says Ishtiyaque, who was the chef at Aamir Khan’s wedding besides that of various other functions of some of the top names in Bollywood.

The staff of Chote Nawab that went to Gandhis to deliver the food was always told by Gandhis about the “excellent preparations.” The restaurant, once again, is ready to serve its elite guests. “We are waiting impatiently,” says Anees. So are the Gandhis. Isn’t it?