Kashmiri food seems to be the flavour of 2013. With several restaurants organising Kashmiri food festivals over the last couple of months, the Valley’s warm and rich cuisine (Wazwan) has been available all around the Capital for enthusiasts to relish. Colours ‘N’ Spice, a restaurant in Asian Village Complex was among the first in 2013 to organise a 10-day long Wazwan for Delhiites back in January. Since then, several such food festivals have been organised.
“Kashmiri food has suddenly picked up as a trend in Delhi. You will see at least a coupe of dishes in every buffet. One reason for its popularity being that people are more aware of the cuisine and they are wanting to try out new things,” Chef Vipul Gupta from Welcom hotel in Saket tells you.
There are many more five star chains that don’t want to be left out in this race. Jamavar, a multi-Indian restaurant in The leela, Chanakyapuri recently orgainsed a Kashmiri Food Festival and the response, their chef tells you was mind blowing.
“We got a special team of Wazas (Kashmiri chefs) from Kashmir to make sure that the authenticity is not lost. Kashmiri cuisine takes its influence from the Persian cuisine as well as the cuisine from the Mughal era. The motive was to revive the historical cuisine for foodies in the Capital,” Vinod Saini, Master Chef, The leela, Chanakaya Puri says.
He adds that the food in the festival was delicately spiced with subtle and complex flavours while being heavily aromatic with spices such as cardamom, saffron, fennel and cinnamon. “The tabak maaz which is slow cooked lamb ribs was a sure shot hit with our audience. For vegetarians we had the nadru gular a thin crunchy patty made of lotus stems,” the chef tells you.
The main course had a little something for everyone too. “The yakhani was a favourite but many opted for the dhaniwali korma which is chicken with yogurt and coriander,” Chef Saini tells you.
While the Kashmiri dishes still feature in their menu, it is festival time that gets the maximum footfall. “People who want to sample Kashmiri khana freak out at festivals. But we don’t get much demand for the dishes in A’la Carte. Hopefully that will change soon,” Chef Gupta leaves you with that thought.