Delights of Wazwaan

 

 

My first encounter with the fabled Kashmiri Wazwaan was in a beautiful village near Palgham, my host being the then struggling Congress politician, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This was in the 70’s and there was an innocence about the place which really gave it intimations of paradise. Unfortunately being a political gathering, there were interminable speeches in Kashmiri, a language which I have no understanding at all, but one had to sit under the walnut trees, and feign interest, and occasional bouts of hilarity to appease one’s hosts. The up setting aspect of this event was not just the boredom induced by the speeches, but while waiting for lunch, there were heavenly aromas in the air making the wait intolerable. Once it came, the food was stunning, dish after dish of the most exquisite mutton preparations, the famous Gustaba, finely pounded meat balls in a thin delicate gravy, the rista, the Tabakmas, delicious ribs and the most subtle, Yakhini Pulao.

 

Kashmiri food has come along way since then. The Ahad Brothers from Srinagar are largely responsible for popularizing the Wazwaan and making it in Delhi, at any rate, a widely chosen option for wedding food at society receptions. The Ahad Brothers are currently in town at the Kandahar in the Oberoi. This presented an opportunity to meet master chefs, with a lineage going back 700 years. It was explained to me that the big distinction in Kashmiri food is between Muslim cooking and Pandit cooking. The Pandits do not use garlic, but liberally use saunf and hing. The Pandits obviously have a greater variety of vegetarian dishes, including the Dum Aloo and variety of lotus roots preparations. The Ahad revolution (and this is an understatement) includes a greater variety of dishes in the Wazwaan, including chicken, fish and more vegetarian options. Formally, a traditional Wazwaan had around seven mutton dishes. It also includes adapting the age old cooking medium which was wood to gas without unduly affecting the flavor. According to the Ahads this change was necessary to make Kashmiri cooking accessible and transportable. There are a few ingredients which are found in Kashmir and nowhere else, such as the red cockscomb flower, used in the colouring of the rogan josh. The rogan josh is a traditional Kashmiri meat preparation, it differs from the dish bearing the same name served in Punjab as the Kashmiris do not use tomatoes.

 

I think that other than these festivals there are unfortunately few opportunities to savour fine Kashmiri cooking, at least in Mumbai. In Delhi, there is the restaurant Chor Bizzare, the food is incidentally supplied by the Ahad brothers. There are a few Kashmiri dhaba like places in the Hazrat Nizamuddin, complex, but neither the hygiene nor the quality of the meat are up too much. The Ashoka had a Kashmiri restaurant which closed down recently. In London I used to eat some fine Kashmiri dishes at the Gaylords in Mortimore Street as one of the partners of that restaurant was Kashmiri pandit, Mahendra Kaul. I think the Ahad brothers should consider a permanent presence in Mumbai.