Kebabs for Babur

Two events, just 28 years apart, had a seismic impact on India’s food. In 1498, Vasco da Gama arrived on the Malabar Coast, opening up a new sea route to Europe. In 1526, ‘The Tiger’ Babur invaded India from the North, founding the great Mughal empire that dominated South Asia for more than three centuries.

Coming from Central Asia, where eating was recognised as a great pleasure, Babur brought with him a love of plovs, rice layered with gently spiced meat and the rich fat of lambs’