As opposed to the well-known multi- course meal in Kashmiri cuisine, Wazwan, chef Sonal Kaul recreates flavours of traditional Kashmiri Pandits. She tells Arjita Mishra that the cuisine derives its inspiration from ghar ka khana
Tired of eating continental, Thai or some fancy cuisine that you can’t even pronounce at a five starIJ The problem that most of us face while eating at a fine dining is the small portions in which our food comes. So, it may look sumptuous with all the dressing and minute details, but is usually unable to satiate our tummy. For this, Hotel Sheraton at its Delhi Pavilion organised a Kashmiri Food Festival from January 29 to Febuary 4 with chef Suman Kaul.
As we entered the Delhi Pavilion, we were greeted by their hotel manager, RishiRaj Singh who told us, “Though the festival has ended but because of the popularity that we have got from this festival. we will retain the dishes prepared by chef Kaul.”
Amid our discussion about the festival, we were served vegetarian as well as non vegetarian starters. We started with kokur kanthi — chicken cubes marinated in youghurt. The chicken cubes were soft and gave a tangy flavour but only in the right amount. This was served with mooli chutney, which we enjoyed the most which was mixed well with the youghurt, as we tasted. From the vegetarian section, we had choonth pakori served with mooli chutney. It was made from the slices of apple wrapped in besan layer. When we took a bite of it, we found it, a bit sour because of the apple but at the same time the besan layering gave it a perfect taste of pakori.
As soon as we started gorging in on our sumptuous starters, we saw chef Kaul coming and she very patiently told us about the menu that she had curated. “People know about only Wazwan which is a multi-course meal in the Kashmiri Muslim tradition. But, I have focussed only on the traditional food of the Kashmiri pandits. It is more like ghar ka khana and you will experience that while tasting it,” she said.
With this, the chef went inside the kitchen to keep a check on other things, and we moved towards the buffet counter. We started with naine roganjosh — lamb cooked on a low flame. The gravy was thick and had the essence and flavour of sauf. Alongside, we took, naine monge khescher — it actually tasted like ghar ki khichdi. We must mention, not the one which we have when we are unwell. But, the one which is made out of rice and lentils. The combination of lentil khichdi with mutton did wonders in our mouth. We also tried gogji razmah (Kashmiri kidney beans with turnips), haak, phool roghanjosh (cauliflower cooked with spices), methi chamman (cottage cheese with fenugreek) and tamatar wangun (eggplant cooked in tomato gravy) from the vegetarian section. For the breads, we were offered plain naan, butter naan, lacha parantha, pudina naan and we happily chose butter naan to enhance the flavours with mutton and lancha parantha to eat with rajma. And, if you think our mum makes the best rajma then you must try rajma cooked by chef Kaul. Rich in spices, the beans were perfectly cooked and gave a perfect blend of flavours, just right, in the amount.
For all those health conscious people, the menu had haak (Kashmiri saag). If you think healthy meals are supposed to be boring and ‘not tasty’, then you are wrong. The chef broke our assumptions by making a haak which was not only healthy but had a quite a different taste to the saag that we have. On the other hand, phool roghjosh was first layered with spices and then it was deep fried in the oil. As they say— food becomes more tastier with its colour and presentation that you give. The colour of cauliflower was golden yellow and red, and it was crunchy on its edges. The temperature to which it was fried and sauted in spices enhanced the flavour of the whole dish. As we were almost full and could not even eat another bite, chef kaul came to meet us again. And, this time, we actually hugged her for the home-made flavour and taste that she brought in our plate. This time she said, “I love cooking and this is why I enjoy my work.” With this, she also pushed us to try her desserts which we thought we would skip. But, as we saw mouth-watering kesari kheer prepared by the chef, we could not resist. The prominence of kesar gave it a yellow colour and the rice was cooked perfectly. Cooked with a lot of dry fruits, we loved the kheer as it was just perfect. It wasn’t too sweet nor too bland, it was cooked as they say, with the right proportion of everything.
As the evening came to an end, we not only brought back our full tummies but we also brought back the flavours and warmth with which chef Kaul met us.