Of Zafran and Kahwa: Food trails in Kashmir

"Look at them all you want for free but touch them and you'll have to pay", warned the man at the small apple-stall next to the roadside orchard. The apple trees stood neatly in rows, laden with small green apples in bunches at arm's reach, validating the sellers' concerns. My friends and I took a few selfies with the famed Kashmiri apples before we resumed our journey to Sonmarg.

It was July. We had started from Srinagar and were headed to our base camp from where we would begin a 7-day trek in the Himalayas. And it was amazing how much I had learnt about the local produce and exotic foods of Kashmir already. 

Kahwa, the Kashmiri elixir:

The day we landed in Srinagar, we shopped for papier-mache boxes and kurtis with kashida embroidery. But our most-anticipated buy was a bottle of kahwa mix. Kahwa is a green tea flavoured with spices like cardamom, cinnamon and saffron and topped with crushed pista and almonds. A Kashmiri favourite, and it followed us throughout the trip.

                     
                            Kahwa in the mountains                      Kahwa in the houseboat
Wazwan:

Dinner in Srinagar was at the famed Mughal Durbar. They ushered us into a room with floor level seating and beautiful huge dishes that looked right out of Jodhaa Akbar! The waiter explained that this room was meant to serve their specialty- wazwan. Wazwan is an enormous spread of mutton-balls cooked in various gravies. The waiter looked almost scandalized when we informed him that our group was mostly vegetarian. As he courteously escorted us out of the Wazwan room and into the regular dining space, he said even a group of 20 people would struggle to finish their full spread of wazwan. 

Kashmiri cuisine is known for its meat dishes. But there were some vegetarian stars we wanted to try. We ordered lotus stems in a curd gravy called yakhni, saag and dum aloo to go with assorted rotis including kashmiri roti. They were different for sure but didn't quite get us as emotional as the lamb dish made our meat-eating friends!

                         
                                    Kashmiri Naan                                           Yakhni
                                                 

Dum Aloo

Handpicked edible jewels:
The next morning, we headed to Saklain's Coterie following the rave reviews on Google about its handmade soaps, organic cosmetics, saffron, and dry fruits. This is where we bought saffron. I also got a bottle of sugarless kahwa powder. Unlike the premix powder, this was proper tea that needs to be boiled and strained. 

Right down the street from there, we found a dry fruits heaven called Amin-Bin-Khalik. I could have been a kid  in a candy store- it has so many interesting products! Candied papaya, kiwi and other fruits, fancy nuts like hazel and pine nuts, Kashmiri walnuts and almonds. They also had the single-clove Kashmiri garlic my colleague had asked me for which supposedly helps reduce cholestrol.  

Their huge bowl of saffron was quite an attraction. "5 kilos", the shopkeeper said, "worth a million!" Yeah , 10 lakh rupees in a bowl!

A big box with oddly-shaped brown things caught my attention. And that was my first encounter with morel mushrooms. Wild mushrooms that grew only under certain deciduous trees, which meant that each of these were handpicked from the mountains. They are known to be more delicious than regular mushrooms. Even with all this knowledge, it was still a little difficult to digest that they cost Rs. 35,000 per kilo!

Tea and biscuits, anyone?

En route to Sonmarg, little boys sold apples on the roadside but I decided to buy them after the trek so that I could take home fresh apples. During the trek, the organizers fed us really good food. At one tea-spot, we discovered Noon Chai, a salty tea prepared with tea leaves, milk, salt and a pinch of baking soda that gives it a light pink colour. We paired it with 'matthi'. Call it a Kashmiri flat bread but for commoners, imagine a crispy or hard Puri or bhatura after it's no longer hot. A satiating snack for sure.

After 7 days of endless trekking through beautiful snow-capped mountains and grassy meadows,we returned to Srinagar for a cosy night in a houseboat. I was too tired to step out with the others. One of the others got me a few pieces of sheermal from a nearby Jan's bakery. Apparently, bakeries are a big thing in Srinagar. So do check them out if you go to Kashmir. 

Today, buying apples at the local store in Bangalore, I ruefully look at my bill of apples for Rs.180 per kilo. I recall the Kashmiri man in the kaftan selling apples from the orchard at Rs.40 per kilo. Sigh...The good old days...

Noon Chai

 Sheermal