Some goshtaba please

Think the word Kashmir and a heady aroma of the various flavours come to mind, not to forget the fragrances of flowers the State is famous for. The Kashmiri cuisine is a many-layered one — influenced by its residents and of course by cultural and political invasions. The Kashmiri pandit food is distinct in its nature and while it does have similarities to the Kashmiri Muslim cuisines, there are some differences that have always kept the two unique in nature.

Vasta Waza Bashir Concha, who’s in town to to give Bangalore a taste of authentic Kashmiri pundit food, promises to create the true Wazwan meal.

This multi-course meal is perhaps one of the most traditional and formal forms of dining that are still followed in India. An elaborate process, it calls in the services of many cooks, championed by the master chef or the vasta waza, who work towards in putting this gastronomic marvel together.

Traditionally, the wazwan is a ritual — where the guest is served everything that is available in the host’s house. Hours, and sometimes even days, go in to the planning and there are not cutting corners. The ultimate banquet is called the royal wazwan where diners are served nearly 36 courses of which half or more comprise only meat dishes.

Dedicated to only celebrations, the wazwan is ideally served in groups of four and on the floor.

“There are some dishes in the Kashmiri cuisine that are hard to replicate outside the place because some of the ingredients used are not available anywhere else. In those cases, we have to carry those ingredients when we travel to other cities to put a festival together. But I am glad that Kashmiri food is so popular all over the country. In fact, even in Kashmir itself we run full house almost all the time,” says chef Bashir.

According to tradition, the diners have to first wash their hands in warm water before sitting down to eat. The waza has to ensure that he’s passed each dish that is set out from the kitchen, given that he’s also responsible for picking all the ingredients for the meal.

Chef Bashir says he’ll do his best to recreate some of the most loved dishes at the festival, including the goshtaba, tabak maaz, palak rishta, seekh kabab, rogan josh, kukkur marchwangun korma and others.

Typically, Kashmiri pandits are known to use more yoghurt, spices like turmeric, but not as much as onion, garlic or even chicken. And unlike its Muslim counterpart, even minced meat dishes are few in number.

“It’s true — while most pandits and the Muslims use meat, we have an equal number of vegetarian dishes. “We are 10 generations of wazas, so for me it’s not just my profession — it’s my passion and I have to do all that I can to make sure whoever eats the meal goes back happy,” says Chef Bashir.

The festival, that starts today and ends of February 27 at the Hotel Royal Orchid, is laid out in buffet style and comes to you at Rs1,200 per person.