Shikwa Haveli, a 700 year old historical noble mansion dated back to the Pre-Mughal period is located on the mound of ‘Katha’, one of the oldest living village in upper Doab on the banks of river Yamuna on Delhi – Baghpat National Highway 57 and near Eastern Peripheral Express Way exit Baghpat. The gigantic task of extensive restoration, reconstruction and refurbishment of the ruins and remnants o
f this haveli of the medieval, pre-Mughal period was initiated in the mid 1990s. The15 years long painstaking and meticulous process was completed in 2009. Keeping heritage, history and traditions alive, Shikwa is now introducing ‘Dastar Khwan-e-Shikwa’. Shikwa’s aim is to give a Pre-Mughal inspired cuisine experience where the food of the region of Katha is light, non-creamy, use of whole spices and ingenious ways of aromatic cooking using fresh lemons, coriander and coarsely powdered spices. The unique flavour and taste comes from our finesse of the dish where the last stages of cooking process is put on ‘dum’ with various techniques and distinct blend of ingredients. The whole process and technique helps the overall food to feel light and at the same time experience a cuisine of an era gone by. The meals will be served as a Buffet format every Sunday for lunch. All dishes are personally curated and supervised by the lady of the house Alka Raza and Son Sahil Raza. The Lady of the House has decades of very close exposure to cuisines of different continents and vast experience of hosting high profile and diplomatic formal and informal lunches and dinners in a large number of countries across the world. On her return to India, Mrs. Alka Raza continued her passion with food and cooking practices by researching, in particular, the food of the pre-Moghul period, the centuries old family recipes and the dwindling cooking practices, knowledge and wisdom of the village elderly women and families to revive and promote the cuisine and cooking techniques that were slowly being forgotten. On the other hand, Sahil also had the privilege to extensively travel the world and had the pleasure of living in more than 3 different countries which gave him a vast knowledge, understanding and a new appreciation towards different dishes and cuisines from around the world. It provided him the motivation, curiosity and created an interest he needed to read, watch, experiment and discover new flavours and unique dishes that came to him from various information gained from different sources. He personally believes food is about personality and passion, unique flavour and discovery and most importantly a dish that can tell a story. Keeping in mind - the passion, knowledge and love we have for heritage, history and food Shikwa is very excited to start this new venture ‘Dastar Khwan-e-Shikwa’ - A Pre-Mughal Inspired Culinary Experience to you!
