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Kashmiri food is very rich and fragrance with the flavour of the spices used like cinnamon, cardamom,
cloves, saffron, etc. Kashmiri saffron is very
expensive. But, only a small quantity of it provides flavour to a dish. Kashmiri food can be the simple meal
of a family, or a 36-course wedding banquet called Wazawan. The main diet of every Kashmiri is rice, which
is the most preferred as being the dense, slightly
sticky grained Kashmir variety, which is prized in the
Valley. Mutton, chicken or fish are of prime importance
in Kashmiri meal and everyday cooking often combines
vegetable and meat in the same dish. Mutton and turnips,
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chicken and
spinach, fish and lotus root are also very popular
combinations. Pure vegetarian dishes include Dum aloo-roasted
potatoes in curd-based gravy, and chaman-fried paneer (cottage
cheese), in a thick sauce. Non vegetarian dishes are
considered in Kashmir to be a sign of lavish hospitality and
at Wazwan or banquet, not more than one or two vegetarian
dishes are served. Sweets do not play an important role in
Kashmiri cuisine. Instead Kahva or green tea is used to wash
down a meal.
During festive occasions, weddings and
parties, the Kashmiris serve a feast called Wazawan. The
Wazwan consists of 36 meat dishes prepared specially by highly
trained chefs and eaten together. The feast begins with the
passing around of the Tash-t-Nari for guests to wash their
hands, followed by the various delicacies served in large
silver platters or thramis piled high with long grained rice
crowned with rista (meat balls made of finely pounded mutton
and cooked in a gravy, seekh kababs, Dum Kokur (chicken cooked
in saffron scented yoghurt), Alu Bukhara Korma (mutton
simmered in a splendid sauce of yogurt, almonds and plums)
along with methi, Rogan Josh (which owes its rich red colour
to the generous use of Kashmiri chillies), Kebabs, vegetables,
Tabak Maaz (flat pieces of meat cut from the ribs and fried
till they acquire a crisp crackling texture) and chutneys.
Gushtaba, which is the last item to be served in a traditional
wazawan, are meatballs moulded from pounded mutton like
large-sized Rista but cooked in thick gravy of fresh curd
base. Dam-Aaloo and chaman are the commonly served vegetarian
dishes. Yakhni, a cream coloured preparation of delicate
flavour, is made with curd as a base. The dessert is usually
phirni and Kahwah. Kahwah is the green tea, flavoured with
saffron, cardamom and almonds.
Several restaurants in Srinagar serve Kashmiri wazawan in
their menus. All the better hotels in Srinagar have attached
restaurants, generally serving Indian, Chinese, Continental
and Kashmiri cuisine.
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There
are a number of bakeries in Srinagar. Some of them, in
addition to patties and pastries, serve Kashmiri breads
like 'sheermal' and 'baqerkhani', without which no
Kashmiri breakfast is complete. Kashmiris use a variety
of breads seldom seen elsewhere. Tsot and tsochvoru are
small round breads, topped with poppy and sesame seeds
and traditionally washed down with salt tea. Lavas is a
cream coloured unleavened bread; baqerkhani is the
Kashmiri equivalent of rough puff pastry and kulcha is a
melt-in-the mouth variety of short-bread, |
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