With specially flown in ingredients from the valley, it’s time to make the most of traditional Kashmiri cuisine on offer at the ongoing Crafts Mela

It's a cuisine that’s rich, aromatic and seldom available this side of the region, unless of course you have magnanimous Kashmiri friends calling you over for meals! That perhaps explains the winding queue outside ‘Wazwan’, the Kashmiri food stall at the ongoing Chandigarh National Crafts Mela. Setup by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC), Wazwan offers authentic Kashmiri cuisine at affordable prices. “We have brought a fixed menu of Kashmiri delicacies and the response has been truly overwhelming,” remarked CB Kaul, manager with JKTDC and also the in-charge of Wazwan.

Bringing with him as many as five seasoned chefs, Kaul informed of the special ingredients that the team has brought with it from Srinagar. “Kashmiri cuisine involves the use of traditional spices and we have got special red chillies as well as a unique variety of onions, rice and rajma,” informed Kaul. As far as the special dishes go, one can try the Gushtaba that’s made from pounded meat in a curd gravy. “People confuse pounded meat with keema but that’s not the case. The meat for Gushtaba is pounded very fine on a special stone,” explained the manager. Another traditional favourite on offer includes the Rista, which is mutton made in a saffron gravy. “For vegetarians we have specially brought Badarwa Rajma, that is a speciality of the state. Then there’s the popular Dum Aloo,” listed out the manager. Preparations for the dishes are on at the Jammu and Kashmir House in Sector 5 and the chefs are hard at work dishing out ‘Seekh Kebabs’ and ‘Dhania Korma’ as well.

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