kashmir food

F & B (P) III SUNIL KUMAR

KASHMIR

LAND DESICATED FROM WATER

DESINGED BY

Sunil KumarResearch Scholar/ Food Production FacultyInstitute of Hotel and Tourism Management,MAHARSHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY, ROHTAKHaryana- 124001 INDIA Ph. No. 09996000499email: [email protected] , [email protected] linkedin:- in.linkedin.com/in/ihmsunilkumarfacebook: www.facebook.com/ihmsunilkumar webpage: chefsunilkumar.tripod.com


INTRODUCTION The name Kashmir implies “ land desiccated

from water” . In Sanskrit KA means water and SHIMIRA

means to desiccate. The legend that Kashmir valley was a vast

mountainous lake called SATISAR, which was drained by KASHYAP RISHI who called Brahmins and tan tricks to drain the lake by using their force and thus it was called as Kashyap – mar and later Kashmir.


SPECIAL FEATURES Traditional Kashmir cooking is called as

WAZAWAN and comprises mostly of non vegetarian dishes.

Most Kashmir's including Brahmins are meat eaters. The Kashmiri cuisine is divided between two main communities

Kashmiri pandits. Kashmiri Muslims. Kashmiri pandits are non vegetarians, but they

don’t use garlic and onions in their traditional dishes.


An unavoidable ingredient in Kashmiri cuisine is curd and asafetida. They use curd in almost all the dishes except in certain kebabs. Curd helps to reduce the spiciness and also gives a smooth creamy consistency to the dish.

Brahmins and Kashmiri pandits have generally been great meat eaters and prefer goat especially young goat.

Rice was the staple food of Kashmir which is still continues to be, barley was regarded as food only fit for poor and no wheat was eaten.


Rice was cooked and eaten cold called as TURN BAT.

Pulaos like zarda pulao, tursh pulao were introduced during the sultan rule in Kashmir.

Hindus ate pork in pre Islamic period, beef was introduced with Muslim rule.

It has developed its own specialty in cooking. Locally grown rice are sweetly fragrant and very light.

All dishes are built around the main course of rice.

Lotus stem is also an important produce for boat dwelling people and makes a very good substitute for meat.


Morel mushroom called GUCCHI are harvested and consumed fresh in summer. They are expensive and therefore used only for specific religious occasions and wedding feast.

Corn bread is an alternate for rice. Sauces and gravies are made from dairy rich

products. The fruits and nuts grown from the valley are used lavishly in the daily menu.

Saffron is widely used in cooking which is obtained from the stigma of the flower called crocus and is used to impart flavor and color to the dishes.


WAZWAN The origin of wazwan seems to be still at

large. It was introduced by the traders from central Asia.

Although wazwan sums to be Persian word but since Persian and Sanskrit are sister language and as per another school of thought “wazwan” could be originally Sanskrit.

WAZA means cook / head cook and WAN means work shop / place. So wazwan means cooks shop.

Wazwan is a feast comprising of 36 courses of meat, chicken, vegetables, salads, curd, sweet and KAHWA (spiced green tea).


With the passage of time some dishes have been omitted and new dishes included like KALYA (yellow meat stew).

It is a festive banquet which every Kashmiri rich or poor held at one or the other time like marriage and other social functions and as a matter of pride.


HINDU – MUSLIMWAZWAN Though the Hindu and Muslim cooks use the

same spices but the taste and flavor differs. The method of cooking in both the cases is

mostly stewing except Hindu cooks using deep frying and braising for TABAK MAZ and ROGAN JOSH. Where of Muslims use shallow frying and boiling.

For thickening the Hindu cooks make use of ground spices, where as the Muslim cooks use a paste of onions, herbs and garlic.


Hindus in India serve meals in thali and leaves to individuals, the Kashmiri Muslims on the other hand place the THRAMIS consisting of various delicacies for every one to eat together when in groups.

One of the important characteristics of WAZWAN is the predominant flavor of garlic in most of the dishes.


SPICES IN WAZWAN Turmeric. Ginger powder. Aniseed powder. Red chilly powder. Cinnamon Green cardamom Cloves Black pepper powder. Shallots Onions Garlic Saffron Cocks comb Mint Dania leaves Green chilly Walnut Badam Methi leaves.


SIGNATURE DISHES RISTA : pounded meat with fat and spices

rounded in the form of small balls and cooked in saffron flavored red gravy.

TABAK MAZ : shallow fried spare ribs. METHI MAZ : roughly chopped offal's cooked with

dried fenugreek. SHEEK KEBAB : finely minced meat spiced,

skewered and grilled on a open charcoal fire. ROGAN JOSH : meat pieces cooked in red gravy.

ROGAN – means and JOSH – means exciting color.


DHANIWAL KHORUMA : boneless cubes of meat stewed in yellowish gravy and garnished with lot of green coriander leaves.

MIRCHI KHORUMA : korma cooked in red gravy with Kashmiri chilly powder and saffron flavored.

AAB GOSHT : large pieces of meat cooked in milk, lightly spiced and flavored.

PALAK SABZI : small spinach cooked in spinach gravy.

GOSHT TABA : pounded meat with fat turned into large balls cooked in yogurt based yakhni gravy.


TAMATER PANEER : cottage cheese in tomato based gravy.

YAKHNI SHORBA : a rich mutton based stock flavored with and enriched with ginger, garlic and garam masala.

KHURBANI KA METHA : popular dessert in Kashmir in which dried apricots are soaked in water and simmered in sugar syrup and mildly flavored with saffron.

KAHWAH : the green spicy flavored tea also be a part of WAZWAN.

CHUTNEYS : like almond, walnut and onion sliced chutney.

PHIRNI : a sweet custard made of rice flour and nuts.

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