SECOND YEAR- KASHMIR

KASHMIRI CUISINE

The northern most part of India, embraced by the snow dusted peaks of the Himalayas, has a temperate climate. Here lies the valley of Kashmir with its magnificent gardens and terraced lakes. Growing food was and is more of a problem.

Because so much land is covered by mountains and lakes, the Kashmir has taken to harvesting the water. The lakes- Dal, Nagin, Manasbal and Wular are filled with the rhizomes of the lotus often called the lotus roots, called ‘nedr’. This nadroo is used by kashmiri pandits.

Green tea called ‘Kahva’ is drunk for breakfast and then sipped through the course of the day. Breads are nibbled with the tea. Kahva  is prepared with saffron and rose petals. It is typically prepared in equipment called samovar.

Kashmiri breads are related more to the breads of Afghanistan, central Asia and the middle east than to chapatis, poories, and paratha of the rest of the subcontinent. Most breads, like buns, can be sweet or salty. Some breads are encrusted with poppyseeds, other with sesame seeds.

The soft ‘Bakirkhani, ‘Sheermal’ are the famous bread from kashmir.  Saffron – are the stigma of crocus plant. Morel (Guchi)– are the most expensive mushrooms that are highly perishable, sold in dried form. Kohlrabi (Moinja)- it is a root vegetable. Haaq (green leaves)- kashmiri green leafy vegetables. Gogji ( turnips)- white color vegetable, often stewed to make a vegetable curry.

Kashmiri cuisine is divided into two parts- the kashmiri pandit cooking and muslim cooking.

The kashmiri pandits though brahmans they eat only lamb meat, usually cut into large pieces. Beef, pork are prohibited for them. They eat fish, chicken and mutton.  Onion and garlic were never used in kashmiri pandit cooking. Asafoetida is used in their tempering.

While the Brahmins of the rest of India abhor meat, kashmiri pandits have worked out quite a different culinary tradition for themselves. They eat meat with great gusto, - lamb cooked with yoghurt (yakhni), lamb cooked in milk (aab gosht), lamb cooked with asafetida, dried ginger, fennel and lots of ground red chillies (roganjosh) – but frown upon garlic and onions.

            Kashmiri muslims eat many of the same meat dishes, but just spice them differently using lots of garlic, dried red cockscomb flowers (maval) for food colouring, and onion. It is praan, the onion of Kashmir, a strange cross between a spring onion and a shallot. Kashmiri muslim use onion and garlic in their food.

            Ver is a spice mixture. It comes in the form of a thin, hard cake with a hole in its centre. It can contain garlic and praan for Muslims, asafetida and fenugreek for hindus, as well as lots of freshly pound red chillies, cumin, coriander, dried ginger, cloves, cardamom and turmeric. All the spices are ground, then made into a patty with mustard oil. A hole is made with patty and left to dry on wooden planks in the shade. Small amounts are broken off as needed, crumbled and then sprinkled over many foods to give them a “Kashmiri” flavour. The first snowfall is celebrated by the Muslims with a dish of harissa, a kind of porridge made of meat and grains that is eaten with delicious girda bread. Hindus enjoy rajma gogji, red kidney beans simmered gently with turnips.

            In spring Kashmiri’s enjoy, Timatar goli – meatballs cooked with tomatoes and yoghurt; dhaniwal korma – lamb cooked with fresh coriander; marzwangan korma - lamb cooked with the strained puree of Kashmiri chillies. Kashmiri’s make exquisite fresh chutneys using either walnuts or sour cherries, or yellow pumpkin or white raddish. In a Kashmiri meal there will always be a lots of rice, some kind of greens, heddar (mushrooms cooked with tomatoes, dry ginger and fennel), shikar (slightly vinegared duck cooked with garhi and red chillies) and gard muj (fish cooked with white raddish). Kashmiris eat fish at room temperature as they believe that reheating fish disintegrates them.

            Autumn is good season for banquets. The Kashmiri Muslim banquets is known as Wazwan, the word ‘waz’ mean chef, a master of culinary arts and “wan” means the shop with its full array of meats and delicacies.

            The wazwan consists of thirty six courses of which fifteen to thirty dishes are varieties of meat. Guests are seated in groups of four on a dastar khan – the traditional seating o floor and share the meal on a large metal plate called a ‘trami’ consists of a mound of rice divided by four sheek kababs, four pieces of methi korma, one tabak maaz (rib chops braised in aromatic broth and shallow fried till crisp) and two pieces of trami murgh – one staged one zafrani yoghurt and chutneys are served in small earthen pots. There are seven standard dishes that are a must for all wazwans; Rista, Roghan josh, Tabak Maaz, Dhaniwal korma, Aab gosth, Marchawangan Korma and Gustaba. Gustaba is the final dish.

Roganjosh- lamb pieces are simmered in a gravy made from mustard oil, yoghurt, red color water from cock’s comb flower, brown onion paste and  spices such as fennel powder and cardamom.

Rice is their staple diet. Zarda pulao is a sweet preparation with rice.

IMPORTANT DISHES:

1.      TRAMI MURGH (ZAFRANI): Chicken cut into halves and cooked in meat stock till dry and lastly flavored with saffron.

2.      TRAMI MURGH (SAFED): Chicken cut into halves, cooked in diluted milk along with saunf and saunth. Saffron is not used.

3.      RISTA: Bounded, poached meat balls in a red spicy gravy flavored with saunth.

4.      GUSTABA: Pounded, poached meat; balls bigger than Rista in a white onion and curd based gravy.

5.      TABAKMAAZ: Lamb meat chops boiled in flavored water and then shallow fried both side till crisp.

6.       KABARGAH: Lamb meat chop boiled coated with rice flour and gram flour (50:50) batter and deep fried till crisp.

7.      AAB GOSHT: Pieces of lamb 1^st cooked in water flavored with saunf, saunth and garlic then cooked in cardamom flavored milk.

8.      DHANIWAL KORMA: Mutton cooked in yoghurt based fresh coriander gravy.

9.      MARZWANGAM KORMA: mutton cooked in lots of red chilly paste and finished with Mawal extract.

10.  CHUSTE: Spicy dry curry of goats’ intestine.

11.  GULAR KEBAB: Minced meat kebabs with orange filling round ball like shape.

12.  PAO GOGJI: Waters of turnips cooked in dry spices.

13.  HAAK (KASHMIRI SPINACH): Leafy vegetable cooked with green chilly, chilly powder, sugar, or jaggery and other spices like Sachh Vari powder.

14.  SARVARI: Rice with black gram, chick peas or peas.

15. KARAM HAAK: This is a leafy vegetable with a bulbous root. While haak leaves are cooked whole, Karam Haak leaves are cut. Other ingredients and method of preparation is same as for Haak, however the bulbous root should be shallow- fried in oil with salt and red chilly powder and added to the saag.