Kashmiri cuisine

Kashmiri cuisine (Template:Lang-ks ; Template:Lang-ur) is the cuisine of the Kashmir Valley region of India. Rice is the staple food of Kashmiris and has been so since ancient times. Meat, along with rice, is the most popular food item in Kashmir. Kashmiris consume meat voraciously. Despite being Brahmin, most Kashmiri Pandits are meat eaters.

Kashmiri cuisine

Rogan josh

Some noted Kashmiri dishes include:

• "Tabakhmaaz" (Kashmiri Pandits commonly refer to this dish as Qabargah)
• Shab Deg: dish cooked with turnip and meat, left to simmer overnight.
• Dum Olav/Dum Aloo: cooked with yoghurt, ginger powder, fennel and other hot spices.
• Aab Gosh
• Goshtaba
• Lyader Tschaman
• Runwagan Tschaman, Cottage cheese in Tomato Gravy
• Riste Meat balls in a delicious curry
• Nader ti Gaad, Fish cooked with lotus stem, a mouth watering deliciacy cooked on festives like Herath, Novroze among others
• Machwangan Kormeh, meat cooked with spices and yogurt and mostly using kashmiri red chillies and hot in taste
• Matschgand, lamb meatballs in a gravy tempered with red chillies.
• Waazeh Pulaav
• Monje Haakh kholrabi being a deliciacy
• Haakh(wosteh haakh, haenz haakh among others) collard greens is enjoyed by kashmiri people and they have their own versions of cooking the same with cottage cheeze, mutton or chicken.
• Mujh Gaad, a dish of radishes with a choice of fish.
• Daniwal Kormeh Lamb cooked with coriander or parsley is a yum.
• Rogan Josh, a lamb based dish, cooked in a gravy seasoned with liberal amounts of Kashmiri chillies (in the form of a dry powder), ginger (also powdered), asafoetida or onion, garlic and bay leaves among other ingredients. Due to the absence of onions, yoghurt is used as a thickener, and also to reduce the heat and marry the spices in the gravy.
• Yakhni, a yoghurt-based mutton gravy without turmeric or chilli powder. The dish is primarily flavoured with bay leaves, cloves and cardamom seeds. This is a mild, subtle dish eaten with rice often accompanied with a more spicy side dish.
• Harissa is a popular meat preparation made for breakfast, it is slow cooked for many hours, with spices and hand stirred.

Other foods

The Kashmir Valley is noted for its bakery tradition. On the [Dal Lake] in Kashmir or in downtown Srinagar, bakery shops are elaborately laid out. Bakers sell various kinds of breads with a golden brown crusts topped with sesame and poppy seeds. tsot and tsochvoru are small round breads topped with poppy and sesame seeds, which are crisp and flaky, sheermal, baqerkhani (puff pastry), lavas (unleavened bread) and kulcha are also popular. Girdas and lavas are served with butter.

Kashmiri bakerkhani has a special place in Kashmiri cuisine. It is similar to a round naan in appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It is typically consumed hot during breakfast.

Wazwan

Main article: Wazwan

A complete Wazwan

A Wazwan is a multi-course meal in the Kashmiri Muslim tradition and treated with great respect. Its preparation is considered an art. Almost all the dishes are meat-based (lamb, chicken, beef, but never fish). It is considered a sacrilege to serve any dishes based around pulses or lentils during this feast. The traditional number of courses for the wazwan is thirty-six, though there can be fewer. The preparation is traditionally done by a vasta waza, or head chef, with the assistance of a court of wazas, or chefs.

Wazwan is regarded by the Kashmiri Muslims as a core element of their culture and identity. Guests are grouped into fours for the serving of the wazwan. The meal begins with a ritual washing of hands, as a jug and basin called the tasht naèr (tasht-e-naari in urdu/persian) is passed among the guests. A large serving dish piled high with heaps of rice, decorated and quartered by two seekh kabab, four pieces of meth maaz, two tabak maaz, sides of barbecued ribs, and one safed kokur, one zafrani kokur, and a mutton dish consisting of a piece known as Danni phol, sprinkled over with some coriander and Musk Melon seeds,followed by other dishes like Risteh, roganjosh, aab gosht, runwangan tchaman, marchwangan kormeh, aloo bukhara gosht, wazz palak, hindi roganjosh and last but not the least Gushtaab/Gushtaba including others. The meal is accompanied by yoghurt garnished with Kashmiri saffron, salads, Kashmiri pickles and dips. Kashmiri Wazwan is generally prepared in marriages and other special functions. The culinary art is learnt through heredity and is rarely passed to outside blood relations. That has made certain waza/cook families very prominent. The wazas remain in great demand during the marriage season from May–October.

Kashmiri street food

Beverages

Kashmiri Chai, Noon Chai, or Sheer Chai

Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers. The word "noon" in Kashmiri language means salt. The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai." It is made with black tea, milk, salt and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda. The Kashmiri Pandits more commonly refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai." The Kashmiri Muslims refer to it as "Noon Chai" or "Namkeen Chai" both meaning salty tea.

Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur, or bakers. Often, this tea is served in large samovars.

Kahwah

At marriage feasts, festivals, and religious places, it is customary to serve kahwah - a green tea made with saffron, spices, and almonds or walnuts. Over 20 varieties of Kahwah are prepared in different households. Some people also put milk in kahwah (half milk and half kahwah). This chai is also known as "Maugal Chai" by some Kashmiri Pandits from the smaller villages of Kashmir. Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits from the cities of Kashmir refer to it as Kahwah or Qahwah.

See also

• Kanger
• List of topics on the land and the people of Jammu and Kashmir
• Wazwan

Further reading

• "Chor Bizarre". Wazwan. Archived from the original on 23 December 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2005.
• "Kashmiri Cuisine". Kashmiri Cuisine- food and recipes:Mumbai/Bombay pages. Retrieved 16 December 2005.