You will no more get to taste age old Tunday Kababi in Lucknow
You will no more get to taste age old Tunday Kababi in Lucknow

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to close down all illegal slaughterhouses if it came to power in the state during its assembly election campaign.

Closure of illegal slaughterhouses was the main table-talk at Tunday Kababi, arguably Lucknow’s most famous seller of galauti kababs, days after abattoirs were shutdown in Allahabad and Varanasi.

The saffron party seems to be acting on its promise, with a number of abattoirs across Uttar Pradesh being subjected to raids and shutdowns. It secured a landslide victory in the February-March assembly elections.

Police have also started a crackdown on shops selling buffalo meat in the Muslim-dominated areas of Rasoolpur, Buxipur, Tiwaripur and Jafra Bazar in Gorakhpur, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s hometown.

Foodies in the City of Nawabs believe politics should be kept away from food and a few others claimed that the government’s move may lead to a hike in the prices of meat.

Mohamed Usman, whose grandfather established Tunday Kababi in 1905 and who is now the owner, said the closure of slaughterhouses might affect the most preferred beef kababs.

Usman said, "These kababs are the cheapest and are largely preferred by those who cannot afford mutton kababs. On regular days, around 80kg of meat, including mutton and beef, is consumed at the Old Nazirabad outlet."

He further added, "The supply of mutton and chicken had not been affected so far, but expressed apprehension about the overall meat shortage in the state. With large quantities of kababs that get produced every single day in Lucknow (estimated to be in tonnes), goat meat or chicken alone can't fulfil the demand. Buffalo meat has been traditionally used to make this Awadhi cuisine."

He buys meat from local traders who may also face the axe in the state capital as the municipal corporation is planning to launch a drive next week.

 
Stay on top – Get the daily news from Indian Retailer in your inbox
Also Worth Reading