KASHMIR CUISINE Kashmiri Cuisine : An Admix of the Persian and Afghanistani Culture Exotic Flavours : The Seven Inseperable Dishes Of Wazwan Types of Cuisines : Vegetarian As Well As Non Vegetarian Blend Of : Saffron with Seasoned Spices such As Heeng and Saffron

Cuisines in Jammu and Kashmir

Cuisines of Jammu and Kashmir have a unique flavor and aroma that make them hard to resist for any tourist. A trip to Jammu and Kashmir is incomplete without tasting the rich delicacies of Wazwan and Kashmiri meals with exquisite specialities of rista, tabakh maaz, rogan josh, gushtaba and many other dishes. A visit to the famous hotels or restaurants and enjoy the Kashmiri tea or kahwa Tea, vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes is one experience that you will never forget.

Srinagar Ladakh

Hotels

Jammu

Jammu and Kashmiri, a state always referred as paradise on earth has every thing that makes your holidays more thrilling and exciting. The hill resorts that are recognized for their verdant woods, lush green meadows, spine chilling water streams and water falls, cities known for small hills, gardens, rivers and lakes that had the luxury of houseboats. Beyond all these natures endowments one thing that delights every visitor is the delicacies. Talk about the Kashmiri cuisine and mouth watering is the common response. Essentially non-vegetarian, the Kashmiri cuisine of Kashmir is popularly known as Wazwan and the cook is known as Waza. These wazas claim to be the descendants of the master chefs who migrated from different parts of central Asia to Kashmiri in 15th century at the time of reign of Timurlane in India. Plan a tour to this city and know more about the details and preparation of Kashmiri delicacies, while enjoying a meal on the dinning table of a houseboat.

A Wazwan In Preparation

The prerequisite of wazwan is that freshly slaughtered meat is used and should be only of lamb. The first thing that waza do is to sort out the meat according to the dishes that are to be prepared like rib cage is used to make tabakh maaz, the bone less meat is sorted out to make kebab, rista and gushtaba. Similarly for every dish waza sorts the meat of a particular part of lamb and other wazas start mincing meat. The entire wazwan is cooked on the fire wood called Wir in Kashmiri and no gas stoves are used. Many dishes are spicy but the spices are not directly added to dishes to retain the fineness of the food. Watching every aspect of preparation of wazwan is a pleasure.

Conjure Delicacies of Wazwan

The feast of wazwan is a part and parcel of marriage parties in Kashmir where the Wazas (cooks) under the guidance of Vast Waza (head cook) start cooking these exquisite delicacies for the whole night . The detailed preparation of delicacies and their traditional presentation adds to the charm of the nobility of Kashmiri Cuisine. The meals in Kashmiri is served on big copper plate called Tram that contains the steamed rice on which the varieties of meat that include mithi, kebab, Tabakh Maaz, Chiken and Daniphul are very beautifully placed dividing the tram into four and four person take meals on one plate. After waza serves the dishes one by one and in the perfect sequence. Gushtaba declares the end of wazwan. There are seven dishes that are considered as inseprable part of kashmiri cuisine, these dishes are tabakhmaz, rogan josh, rista, aabgosh, dhaniwal korma, marchingan korma and gushtaba. No spoons, forks or knives are used in the course of meals. After meals Phirini is the common dessert followed by the beverage called Kahwa flavored with saffron. One of the specialities of the wazwan is polav, it is a sweet rice dish cooked in clarified butter and milk along with dry fruits and saffron. To give a try to this cuisine at home bring the Kashmiri ver or vari, a tikki made of mixed spices and is easily available in the markets in Kashmir.

Vegetarian Delicacies of Kashmiri Pandits

As all the Kashmiri pandits are Brahmans they are exception to their counterpart in the rest of India and are the voracious meat eaters. In Hindu marriages Wazwan is also prepared but it is limited and contains vegetarian dishes as well. The dum aloo, kofta, kabargah, methi charman and chuk wangun are the famous delicacies of pandits. The other difference in cuisines of pandits is that less garlic and onion is consumed and more heeng is used. The aroma of these dishes will turn you mad and once you will taste it there is no turn back.

Cuisine in Kashmir is one more reason to visit the city and enjoy the royalty any where you are staying. An invitation to marriage is not mandatory to taste wazwan you can have it in the hotels of Kashmir like Mughal Darbar and Ahdoos. Come and enjoy the taste of Kashmiri cuisine.