Kashmir called the heaven on earth is a place whose culture and the food is also heavenly and influenced by Mughals. The Kashmiri food mainly consists of cuisine from Persia. The main course of Kashmiri food is Wazwan; it consists of 20 non-vegetarian dishes and additional vegetarian dishes like Tschaman (paneer), Header (Mushrooms), Haaq (Lettuce), etc. Some of the main and most popular dishes and side dishes are given below:
1. Tabakmaaz
Tabakmaaz or rib cage is considered to be the best dish in all Kashmiri dishes, as it is cooked till its upper layer becomes super crunchy and the layer inside is just, hot and white fat which feels like melted cheese. Tabakmaaz is widely loved and eaten because of its unique taste.
2. Gushtaba
Gushtaba is a ball of boneless meat. Its size is more than a tennis ball. It is spice-less, soft and easily gullible. It is little sour in taste as it is a part of particular yogurt curry.
3. Methi Maaz
Methi means Fenugreek and Maaz mean mutton. The meat from a Digestive tract of the sheep or goat is taken and chopped into small pieces like korma, and then it is cooked with Kashmiri Mirchi and Methi to make a delicious dish which is then eaten with rice.
4. Mujh Gaad
It is a Fish curry dish, mostly any river fish. The fish is cooked with Radish and spices a lot of them to keep out the smell of fish. It is then served with Rice or eaten fried only.
5. Modur Pulav
It is the special type of aromatic rice cooked with basmati rice, vegetables, and Kashmiri zafran. It is sweet to taste and that is why it is called “Modur”.
6. Rista
It is also a ball of meat but much smaller than Gushtaba. It is cooked in more spices and has red curry. It is very smooth and melts in the mouth.
7. Rogan Josh
It is a meat curry with the aroma from saffron and cardamom seeds. Mostly meat with bones is cooked. This curry is cooked in ghee and can be served with rice and naan.
8. Yakhni
It is thick yogurt curry with dried coriander powder and garlic. The mutton used in it is full of fat; gives the curry a creamy texture. It’s sour in taste and takes hours to cook properly.
9 Dum Aloo
This dish is made from baby potatoes and is cooked with a closed lid and certain spices like ginger and fennel. The base of this dish is also yogurt.
10. Sheermaal
Sheermaal is a special type of round bread. It is sweet and golden brown in color. It is crispy and is generally eaten with Kehwah.
11. Nader Monj
It is a snack of Lotus stem; which is abundantly available in Dal Lake; the famous Lake of the Heaven. The lotus stems are covered with gram flour, salt, and food color; they are then deep fried similar to that of Pakodas.
12. Bakerkhani
It is also a kind of bread but it is quite flaky; it’s prepared in layers with lots of ghee. It’s lavishly eaten in Kashmir.
13. Zafrani Kokur
The Kashmiri Chicken cooked in saffron. It’s orange coloured and is not very much fried.
14. Noon Chai
It is a special salty green tea prepared with butter or sometimes cream with pistachios and other dry fruits. It is pinkish in colour also small amounts of Baking soda are used to extract colour from the tea.
15. Kahwa
It is also another kind of sweet tea prepared from Cinnamon, Cardamom, and most important Saffron. Dry fruits are used in abundance mainly almonds. It is the famous tea of Kashmir.
16. Lyodur Tschaman
It is yellow colour turmeric based curry with cottage cheese in it. It has creamy gravy.
17. Hokh Gaad
It is used as Chutney. Hokh Gaad means dried small fish. It is cooked according to taste mostly with chillies.
18. Doud Maaz
“Doud” means Milk in Kashmiri. So, this dish consists of milk, lamb, and cardamom without Turmeric. Mostly meat from Tail of sheep or goat is used in this dish.
19. Harisa
It is minced meat usually eaten in breakfast with Tandoori Roti. It takes hours for preparation and lot of oil is used to cook it.
20. Lavassa
It is a Tandoori Naan-like bread. It is soft and white in colour. It is thicker than Naan and is round. It is usually eaten for breakfast with butter on it.
21. Tamatar chaman
It is a very delicious vegetarian delicacy; made of red tomatoes and cottage cheese. Its curry which is bright red gives a tingling sensation to the tongue.
These all dishes have taken a lot of time to evolve and now are at their finest. People go to Kashmir and come back delighted, satisfying their five senses. It is time for you, to go and give an enthralling experience to your whole digestive tract.
