Evenings in India are incomplete without a cup of chai. An essential part of every household in the country, having chai and snacks with your loved ones is a big part of winding down after a hectic day.
While samosas and other fried snacks are a staple combo with tea, few know that region and even city-specific combinations exist with chai. One of them is sheermal and chai from Lucknow.
An Instagram account highlighted the delicacy and dropped a photo of the food in a post. The flaky bread is available in other cities as well, but a chai and sheermal pairing is something only true residents of Lucknow enjoy.
Instagram Post Highlights Famous Lucknow Chai Combo
Sheermal is a common snack for people in Lucknow. The saffron-flavoured flatbread is made using refined flour, milk, ghee and sugar. The name derives from Farsi-Urdu, where “sheer” means “milk,” and “mal” means “to rub.” The dish originated in Persia and came to India during the Mughal era, an NDTV report claimed.
The recent post on sheermal highlighted its uniqueness for Lucknow’s residents. “Some food combinations are specific to an area or a city. And Chai and Sheermal is one of those, the people of Lucknow eat it either in the morning as breakfast or as an evening snack,” the post read.
View this post on Instagram
How Did The Internet React?
Many people praised the “unbeatable combination”, calling it the “best breakfast ever.” A user wrote, “For Lucknowites living away from the city, sheermal is the food they miss the most.”
Another commented, “Deadly combination ….. classic…..only Lucknow waale know even feel it.”#
An account recalled, “Especially those leftover sheermal from last night’s daawat used to hit different with morning chai. Core childhood memory.”
“Ek chammach balai/malai is missing from this post,” another quipped.
“Dude sheermal and chai also exist outside Lucknow but sheermal and kebab only exist in Lucknow,” a person remarked.
Lucknow Named UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy
Sheermal is just one of the delights Lucknow’s cuisine has to offer. The city is famous for street food options like kebabs, basket chaat, khasta kachori, makkhan malai, nihari and kulcha, and biryani.
In October, the city was named a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy to celebrate its rich culinary heritage, centuries-old food traditions of Awadhi cuisine and its commitment to preserving and innovating gastronomic practices.
