An Aurangabad food guide to eat like a local

When in Aurangabad, visit Ajanta and Ellora.

On my first visit to the city, now officially called Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, I did just that. But, over the course of a long weekend, I discovered that there is much to do in this city that was once Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s stronghold, and much of it has to do with food.

Take the naan qaliya, the city’s most famous dish. A rich buff/mutton gravy cooked in a large cauldron and a turmeric-singed naan combine to create this unique dish. It owes its origins to royal khansamas, who created this dish with limited resources to feed a literal army. In present-day Aurangabad, no Muslim wedding is complete without it.

I have my first taste of naan qaliya at the legendary Abdul Jabbar Khaliya House. A popular spot, I spy people lining up through the evening, with bucket-sized containers and tubs to carry the gravy home. In one half of the space, the staff are doling out the gravy into bags and vessels and in the other, dough is being rolled out and slapped into tandoors. It costs ₹120 a plate, ₹12 for naan.

It is food drama at its finest, but minus the manicured touches and curated movements. It’s a story I found across Aurangabad: good food with flair.

Aurangabad owes its history to the Ethiopian-born Malik Ambar, who rose from being a slave to the prime minister of Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region around the early 1600s. He founded the city, calling it Khirki/Khadki and made it his capital. When Aurangzeb conquered the region, he renamed it Aurangabad and made it the capital of the Deccan.

The city’s food history has liberal sprinklings of Mughal, Deccan and Maharashtrian influences. The street fare mimics that of Mumbai to an extent—many stalls and vendors selling pav bhaji, misal, pani puri and vada pav. There are small bhojanalayas (messes) serving snacks—largely vegetarian—like misal, usal, bharit (like bharta), thalis and different types of rassas (fiery curries). These are dotted across the main Jalna Road and on Usmanpura Road. As a Goan who prefers her meat, I turn my attention to the city’s Mughal and Deccani influences.

The aforementioned naan qaliya is a good example: the dum (steam) cooking in large deghs is a typical Mughal characteristic, while the local influence comes through with ingredients like poppy seeds and chironji. “Qaliya has khus khus or poppy seeds, coconut, chironji, which gives it that rich flavour. At weddings, this naan is made with refined flour and khoya and kneaded with milk. There’s a popular saying that ‘baasi qaliya do guna maza deta hai’ to indicate that qaliya tastes better the next day,” adds Mudassir Nadeem, a city guide who goes by the moniker Aurangabadi Musafir on his social media page.

“If you want to eat it the Aurangabadi way, you have to tear off pieces of the naan in a bowl, fill it up with the curry so that the bread soaks it all, and eat it with your hands,” says Faisal Quraishi, a former tour guide who now runs a handloom store and is a passionate advocate for his city. Quraishi and Nadeem are my guides here.

At Shah Ganj market, beside a mosque dating back to 1723, is a food cart. Yadgar Tikiya Pav Centre is crowded with eggs and heaps of bread, but the magic lies on the two hot tavas doling out tikiya pav—a buff patty ( ₹30 a plate) fried till crisp, served with toasted pav, and boiled eggs ( ₹20 for a plate) fried in the leftover grease.

A few streets away is Appa Halwai, a family-run institution at least a century old. Their pedhas are rich in ghee, sweet and crumbly with mawa. Other sweets popular here are mawa jalebis, the layered khaja (made during festivals), and khoya-laden sweets.

SWEET AND SPICY

As with other parts of Maharashtra, beef is banned in Aurangabad, but buffalo meat is common. There is plenty to choose from—seekh kebabs dripping fat in open flames, chunks of tender meat nestled in fragrant biryanis and mandis, and thin slices simmered in different dishes. “Crispy thin kebabs with tamarind and mint chutney are the way Aurangabad likes its kebabs,” says Nadeem. At Bismillah Kebab Centre, the kebabs ( ₹20 for a plate) are a textural delight, crisp on the outside and beautifully soft within.

Everywhere we go, I find people waiting their turn, to eat jalebi at Uttam Mithai Bhandar, sip on small cups of “golden” (milky sweet tea), savour mutton dalcha after namaaz on Friday, or eat kheema samosas at Shama Hotel. It is sold out when we visit, but I try the chicken samosas ( ₹8 a piece), which are meaty and lightly spiced. One morning, I wake early and go to Madni Chowk. There’s a crowd there too, all men, and lined up to start their day with nihari and paya at New Shama Hotel. “A paya breakfast is very common here. It is rich and hearty and a good meal to get you through the day,” says Quraishi. The layer of oil in the paya ( ₹100) makes me shudder, but the fat is delicious. By the side, I order a plate of rich and fatty nalli shorba ( ₹100).

The only other chicken dish I eat in Aurangabad is kantakky. “It’s a corruption of the Kentucky fried chicken,” laughs Quraishi. These, I learn, are commonly eaten at dhabas, particularly those that line the road leading towards Daulatabad, on the weekends. We try kantakky at Pasha Bhai’s Dhaba. It is fried chicken with an Indian twist: there’s a generous spice mix and a colour that is reminiscent of the Chicken 65. It tastes best when dipped in a chutney — a combination of onions and tomatoes mixed with ketchup.

The culmination of my Aurangabad food tour happens at Jublee Paan Shop, where I try a dry fruit karanji, chocolate paan, and also a laddoo-like dry fruit and coconut version.

In a landscape that often only boasts about the food from the major metros, Aurangabad comes as a pleasant surprise: the food is affordable, varied and delicious.

Joanna Lobo is a Goa-based journalist.