A comfortable drive to Lucknow followed by food which robbed our hearts: #28States28Plates Day 12 Blog

Day 12. Another early morning innings of the #28States28Plates drive. But good for us, this time we were headed to a city very very famous for its street food. Lucknow — the city of nawabs. Not only did the mughals built beautiful architecture here, but also brought with them lip-smacking food. Our route decided today was supposed to be very comfortable and that was certainly true. Dehradun to Lucknow via Delhi and the on the famed Agra-Lucknow highway. A total distance of 750km. The longest driving stint yet. Dehradun to Delhi was tackled via a dual-carriageway, with average traffic. We crossed Delhi via its outer ring road and quickly made it to Agra and joined the Agra-Lucknow highway. The Kigers would now get a chance to stretch their legs. The Agra-Lucknow highway is one of the best bits of tarmac present in the country. Wide lanes, smooth surface and well planned dividers.

Driving on the highways can get a bit boring and to be honest this one was no different. Going at constant speed on the same straight roads for hours without any drama was every bit boring as you imagine it to be, but thank god we had lovely backgrounds the state of Uttar Pradesh had to offer. Lush green farms and trees which we were mesmerised by. A big demerit which is to be noted about the Agra-Lucknow expressway is the lack of rest stops or restaurants. There is only one stop — a rest area run by the government on the whole highway which is right smack dab in the middle of it. That means you can only stop mid way at the 150km mark on the Agra-Lucknow expressway.

We arrived in Lucknow in the evening at around seven. The moment to sample some delicious Lucknowi food had finally arrived. Friends of evo India — Abhinav and Pranjal had kindly come all the way from the other side of the city to take us to taste two of the most famous Lucknowi dishes — Galouti Kebabs and Biryani. And Tunday Kebabi, a restaurant which is over 100 years old, is the place to go to have those. Delicious melt-in-your-mouth mutton kebabs coupled with soft roomali rotis or paranthas, is a match made in heaven. Turns out the Galouti kebab has an interesting backstory! They were first made for a king who had no teeth, but loved Kebabs. That's the reason for their melt-in-mouth nature! This simple food was easily the best we had on the drive till date.

We now know why they say Muskuraiye aap Lucknow mein hain, because of the food! Tomorrow the #28States28Plates food trail heads to Gangtok.