You know you’re in Kashmir when bed-tea is replaced by Kahwa
in bed! Kashmir is a photographer’s paradise and a gastronomer’s dream! I had a
great time sampling drinks and food from this region. Read all to know what interested my taste
buds!
Traditional Kashmiri Kahwa
& noon chai
Since the day we checked into our BnB (Bloomingdale, Dal
gate, Srinagar) till the day I left Kashmir, I made it a point to listen to our
host, Mr Firdous’s advice and enjoy several cups of traditional Kashmiri Kahwa.
This drink is enjoyed by the locals in the afternoon or evening, although Kahwa
worked just fine as bed-tea!
Kahwa is a royal drink with ingredients such as saffron,
honey, cinnamon, wlanuts and almonds lending it a rich aroma, lovely colour and
texture. With every sip of Kahwa, one
can taste the ingredients perfectly blended and the powered/ cut walnuts/
almonds add a nice crunch.
Although we had Kahwa everyday at Bloomingdale, my favourite
still is the Kahwa we had at a tea stall next to Zamindar store in Pampore
(while one returns from Pahalgam to Sringar).
Unftunately I do not have a photo of the rich-royal Kahwa we had there :(
Kahwa is made in traditional yet
lavish metal vessel called Samovar. The
vendor was kind enough to help me jot down the recipe for Kahwa and also share
the secret ingredients (herbs grown in Kashmir) which are not readily available
elsewhere!
Tourists who come to Kashmir fall in love with this
drink. If one wishes to carry an
inexpensive memory back from Kashmir, I’d highly recommended buying a bottle of
Kahwa pre-mix. Although fresh Kahwa is heavenly, the pre-mix is convenient and does
its job of bringing you back a piece of Paradise right in your house!
Kahwa clearly overshadows and outshines another drink named
‘noon chai’. Locals usually have for noon-chai for breakfast with a piece of baked
thick roti. I have been told that this
is the most popular and preferred breakfast!
Noon-chai is made with milk and also has a dash of baking
soda and salt. It has a peculiar taste
and apparently one needs to acquire a liking for it – clearly not my chosen cup
of tea. 1 cup Kahwa please….
Wazwan
Meat is an integral part of Kashmiri cuisine. Most households get their weekly doze of
protein from mutton, chicken or fish prepared with a flavourful curry to go
with rice. Kashmiris also celebrate their food and take pride in a multi-course
meal called “wazwan”. It is made up of a
combination of meats in curry, kebab, grilled form served with rice/ biryani
and desserts such as phirni.
Popular
dishes in the wazwan which are also available as stand-alone orders in most
hotels are rogan josh, rista (mutton meat balls in red curry), yakhni (mutton
with curd based gravy), gustaba (meatballs in curd based curry), mutton seekh
kebab, tabak maaz (lamb ribs),etc.
We were told that Kashmiris especially enjoy wazwan during
wedding ceremonies where wazwan comprising of 10-15 dishes are prepared with
the best ingredients and guests sit in groups of four to enjoy wazwan out of a
huge copper plate. We tried a slightly
modest version of wazwan at Mughal Darbar in Srinagar and were impressed with
how well the meat was cooked (although I did not enjoy the dense meatballs too
much, the whole mutton pieces were succulent), the flavourful curries and the
variety of kebabs. Because the meat was
heavy, we decided to flush down the food with lots of thumbs up! Burrp!
Road-side kebabs
While a plate of wazwan is grand and to be relished on
special occasions, Kashmiris love to have hot kebabs as evening snacks/ during
dinner with rumali roti/ green chatni by the side. We sampled mutton, fish and chicken kebabs at
a cemented square at Dal lake, between tulip garden and Dal gate.
There were several kebab wala’s in the square
but we tried kebabs at Naj’s on our
drivers recommendation. For INR 40-60 a
plate, these kebabs were a steal and perfect filler between tea and dinner.
Fresh trout
Introduced by the British, trout fishing is huge in
Kashmir. In fact angling enthusiast come
here in summer and spring to catch some trout and eat it too. Kokernag, in
south Kashmir is known for its trout farms.
We came across Café Inn, Pahalgam by chance and it happens
to serve some of the bets trout preparations. I settled into the cozy and
tastefully done café and ordered a butter lemon garlic trout for lunch. While the chef was preparing the trout, we
enjoyed sampling the thin crust pizza and carrot cake (delicious!).
Soon enough a full, medium size fried trout with lemon
garlic butter dressing and exuded heavenly aroma was served to us. A salad and lots of fries were served by the
side. The fish was succulent, yet the
skin was perfectly crunchy and the dressing perfectly tied together the
flavours. Although the trout dish was not cheap (approx. INR 730), but it was
worth every rupees!
If you’re a vegetarian, fret not, the desserts/ pizzas at Café Inn
will leave you wanting more. And the ambiance is perfect for a lazy lunch/
a date with a good book, just like I did!
Dried apple
We came across several apple trees/ orchards with pretty
pinkish white flowers blooming in glory while driving across Kashmir in
April. Come October and all the trees
will be laden with red plump apples weighing the branches down. Traders from across the country will flock
Kashmir to strike a good bargain and the best quality fruit will be exported.
Factories also produce jams, jellies, preserves and juices from the tender
apples.
Kashmiris love their apple and believe in using every part
of it. Until the apple season comes,
they munch on thin slices of sun-dried apples (the top/ bottom of the apple)
which are sprinkled with little sugar for extra zing! Dried-apples come in two
variants - the sweet and the sweet-sour. We bought half a kg of the tangy sweet-sour
variant while returning from Sonmarg and happily munched on it throughout the
road trip. Nom Nom!
Goodies from bakeries
at Dal gate
Bakeries are to Kashmir, what sweet shops (halwai ki dukaan)
are to the rest of India. These words by
our host, Mr Firdaus (from Blooming Dale), when he welcomed us at his Bnb with
top-notch biscuits, still ring in my ears. He also was kind enough to buy half-a-dozen mutton pattice from Jan bakery (Dal gate) for us to relish!
Everywhere we went in Kashmir we found several bakeries. In
fact, even the smallest towns/village had its own bakery!
Bakeries serve everything from tea cakes, plum cakes, cake
rusk, biscuits and mutton pattice (Jan’s bakery) to the fancy desserts inspired
by French cooking (Le Delice bakery). My favourite baked goodie still remains
the plain cake from Jan’s bakery – fluffy, moist and buttery!
Phirni and shahi
tukda
I am not very sure if Kashmiris are into desserts, but I did
see Phirni and shahi tukda on several hotel menus. While phirni was fantastic at Raja Dhabha (on
the way from Srinagar to Gulmarg), shahi tukda (at Mughal darbar) took me by surprise
thanks to the topping of piped whipped cream, pineapple, cherries and chocolate
flakes.
Well, rather end on a sweet note with an outrageously topped
dessert than something boring!
And let's not forget....Maggi!
We ate maggi almost everywhere in Kashmir, the most memorable being at Sonmarg after hiking up the snow in our gum boots and losing our way!