New Delhi · Est. 1998 · Mughlai Fine Dining
Cuisine that
remembers empires.
Saffron-laced korma. Charcoal-kissed seekh. Seven courses that unfold like a dynasty's feast.
The Kitchen's Language
Each dish carries
a provenance.
Shahi Korma
The spice blend begins with whole green cardamom crushed by hand each morning in the kitchen's brass mortar — a ritual unchanged since our founder, Ustad Bashir Ahmed, first cooked for a Lucknow nawab in 1972.
Seekh Kebab
Charcoal from mango wood, hand-minced lamb shoulder, and a three-hour marinade of raw papaya and black cardamom. The crackling you hear is the fat meeting live fire.
Dum Biryani
Sealed under a dough lid and cooked over slow charcoal, the rice absorbs the meat's perfume for forty minutes. The seal breaks tableside.
Lamb Nihari
Slow-braised for twelve hours in a stock that never fully cools — the pot has been on since Tuesday. Featured in Condé Nast Traveller, Bon Appétit, and The New York Times.
Makhani Sauce
Tomatoes slow-roasted for six hours, finished with Amul cream and a cold knob of cultured butter. It never leaves the copper pot it was born in.
Signature Preparations
Dishes that arrive
with a story.
The Crown Jewel
Raan-e-Dawat
Whole slow-roasted leg of lamb
A full leg of spring lamb, marinated for forty-eight hours in yoghurt, raw papaya, and a private blend of seventeen spices, then slow-roasted over mango-wood charcoal until the bone pulls clean with a whisper. This dish is ordered forty-eight hours in advance. It has graced the table at three state dinners.
Suggested with: Saffron pilaf & house-made sheermal
The Slow Braise
Nihari-e-Shahi
Twelve-hour lamb shank
The pot has never fully cooled. Each morning, fresh shank is added to a stock built over twenty-six years of continuous cooking — a living braise that deepens with every cycle. Three food writers have described the first spoonful as "the taste of patience." Condé Nast Traveller listed it among the fifty dishes worth flying for.
Suggested with: Khamiri roti baked in the tandoor at 480°C
The Tandoor
Seekh-e-Shikampur
Charcoal seekh with shikampur filling
Hand-minced lamb shoulder, mixed with chana dal, whole spices, and a filling of hung curd and caramelised onion — then pressed onto skewers and kissed by live charcoal at 600°C. They arrive still crackling. The char is intentional: it is the flavour the Mughal court called "the breath of fire."
Suggested with: Mint chutney churned with raw mango
Who Dines at Dawat
Every table
has a reason.
From anniversary dinners to seven-figure deal closings — the ceremony of the meal does the work.
Anniversary & Celebration
Private corner tables, personalised menu cards, edible-gold dessert on arrival.
Corporate & Private Dining
Sealed dining room for up to 24, custom biryani tableside service, signed menus.
Chef's Table
Six seats at the pass. Watch the korma reduce. Smell the tandoor at work. Twelve courses.
"We came for our tenth anniversary and left having ordered the tasting menu twice in the same evening. The lamb nihari ar…"
Arjun & Priya Mehta
Anniversary Dinner · Table for Two
"I close deals at Dawat. There is something about the ceremony of the biryani seal breaking tableside that resets the entire conversation. Three ₹7-crore contracts have been signed at the corner table by the jali screen."
Rohit Singhania
Managing Director · Singhania Capital
"I flew in from London specifically for the nihari. I had read about it in Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveller, and a food blog I trust more than either. All three undersold it."
Fatima Al-Rashidi
Food Writer · London
Featured in
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