Situated in the northern part of India, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has the distinction of being the most populous state of India. In terms of area, it is the fourth largest, among all the states. The wealth of its monuments, mystical call of its mountains and lakes, and the religious fervour that it evokes, have rendered Uttar Pradesh, one of the most fascinating states of the Indian Union. Whether one is on a spiritual quest, or in search of adventure, or just on a curiosity trip,or a culinary adventure Uttar Pradesh has something to offer to everyone.
Uttar Pradesh has been a melting pot of various cultural and religious influneces which came in with the different dynasties - Mughlai being one of the major ones' among them . These influences are visible in the cuisine of Uttar Pradesh ....it ranges from totally vegetarian (without onion, ginger-garlic) food to rich mughlai cuisine. It has the simplicity of dishes like khatte aloo, tehari on one hand and the richness of mughlai murgh and navratan korma. Simple phulkas are cooked in the same place as rumali rotis and sheermal ...... sweets like imarti, balushahi, barfi, rabadi..... the list goes on and on.... make life a little more sweet and bearable. Food is such an integral part of life in UP that almost every major town and city has some food item associated with it . Who would have not heard of the Petha of Agra, the pedas of Mathura, the paan of Varanasi, the kebabs of Lucknow, the list can go on and on.....
When my good friend Lakshmi of thetasteofmysore asked me whether I would like to host SWC- Uttar Pradesh I was thrilled . This is the first time I am hosting an event and I am both thrilled and nervous . Thrilled as this would give me an opportunity to interact with all other bloggers in Singapore , nervous because I have never ever hosted an event and I am afraid that I might miss out on some entry or might not be able to do a good work in presenting the round-up.
Well whatever happens I am sure I will learn a lot and also make some new friends on the blogosphere.. for now I will have to think of something to cook as an entry.
And all that you have to do is :
1.Cook a dish which has its origin in UP/Awadh region
2.Take a pic.
3. Attach a brief recipe with the pic and photo and send it to me at nupur.raizada@gmail.com
The last date for sending in your entries is 30th June'08 , just send in your entries before that .
