Rich and redolent with the flavors of the spices used – cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, saffron, etc. – Kashmiri food can be the simple meal of a family, or a 36 – course wedding banquet called Wazawan. The staple diet of every Kashmiri is rice, the most preferred being the dense, slightly sticky grained Kashmir variety, which is prized in the valley.


Mutton, chicken or fish are of prime importance in Kashmiri meal and everday cooking often combines vegetable and meat in the same dish. Mutton and turnips, chicken and spinach, fish and lotus root are also very popular  combinations. Pure vegetarian dishes include dum-aloo – roasted  potatoes in curd-based gravy, and chaman – fried paneer  (cottage cheese), in a thick sauce. Non-vegetarian dishes are considered in Kashmir to be a sign of lavish hospitality and at a Wazwan or banquet, not more than one or two vegetarian dishes are served. Sweets do not play an important role in Kashmiri cuisine. Instead Kahva or green tea is used to wash down a meal.

Wazawan is  usually served at weddings and parties. The most commonly served items are rista (meat balls) made of finely pounded mutton and cooked in a gravy; seekh kababs, tabak maz, or  flat pieces of meat cut from the ribs and fried till they acquire a crisp crackling texture, roganjosh, which owes its rich red color to the generous use of Kashmiri chillies. Yakhni, a cream colored preparation of delicate flavour, is made with curd as a base. Gushtaba, which is the last item to be served in a traditional wazawan, are meatballs mounded from pounded mutton like large sized Rista but cooked in thick gravy of fresh curd base. Dam-Aaloo and chaman are the commonly served vegetarian dishes – to serve more than this would indicate an unseemly tendency on the part of the host to economize!