It’s hard to imagine any discussion on Lucknow’s cuisine without mentioning Tunday and Galouti kebabs or Awadhi biryani. Yet, these iconic dishes are missing from the Uttar Pradesh government’s district-wise list of traditional food items notified under its ‘One District One Cuisine’ (ODOC) initiative, reported news agency PTI.
Only vegetarian dishes made it to the list.
Designed to promote regional delicacies through better branding, packaging, and market access, the initiative maps signature foods to each of the state’s 75 districts.
Apart from Lucknow’s galouti kebabs and biryani, the list also excludes Rampur’s mutton korma and seekh kebabs, as well as Bareilly’s popular mutton preparations, along with other well-known non-vegetarian dishes.
The absence of iconic non-vegetarian dishes – long associated with Uttar Pradesh’s culinary identity – has raised eyebrows.
Noted food historian Pushpesh Pant described the all-vegetarian ODOC platter as a “half baked” measure. “This seems to be a half baked move that smacks of bigotry. In short, ignorant nonsense,” he told PTI.
Pant, however, clarified that he appreciates vegetarian cuisine as well. “I love all dishes. All I am saying is why engage in selective discrimination?”
What the government says
Addressing the omission of non-vegetarian dishes in the list, Cabinet minister Rakesh Sachan told The Indian Express: “It is not intentional. If recommended in the future, they can be added. The idea is not to promote individual popular items but dishes that benefit a larger population through packaging, sales, and promotion.”
He added that it is a flexible list which can be upgraded based on public opinion and suggestions.
“The list is flexible. The scheme has been approved by the Cabinet, but the list of cuisines can be changed any time based on local recommendations and public demand, with approval from the Chief Minister. It does not require Cabinet approval,” he said.
He told the publication that district-level committees—comprising administrators, food experts, and local stakeholders—conducted surveys and consultations to identify dishes with strong potential for scalability, packaging, and market expansion.
Uttar Pradesh’s One District, One Cuisine initiative was launched in January this year by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Lucknow.
Which dishes made it to the list?
In the ODOC list, a wide range of sweets, snacks and vegetarian staples across Uttar Pradesh’s districts find a mention.
Lucknow has been mapped with rewari, chaat, malai makkhan and mango products, while the Moradabad division features dal dishes and handi halwa but no Moradabadi biryani.
In Agra, petha and dalmoth have been identified, while Firozabad is known for potato-based dishes such as tikki and kachori.
Aligarh has been tagged with dairy products and kachori, Hathras with hing-based items and khurchan, PTI reported. Mathura is represented by peda and makhan mishri, Varanasi by paan, thandai and tiranga barfi, Meerut by gajak and revdi, and Prayagraj by kachori, samosa and rasmalai.
(With inputs from PTI)
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