Culinary explorations: Kashmir and Ladakh
The first time I ate momos, I was huddled underneath a plastic tarpaulin. Outside the rain was falling incessantly, and it had turned cold. The woman opened the lid of her large aluminium steamer, and picked up six pieces of pearly white momos, and placed them onto a small dish. In a plastic container, she ladled some red dipping sauce, and handed the plates over to us. My friend, who had lived in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh for the better part of his life, almost swooned with excitement. He snatched the plate out of the woman’s hands, and dunked a momo in the sauce. Seeing his enthusiasm, I followed suit.
It was simply…ineffable! The thin wrapper of my first momo gave way to a crunchy filling of finely chopped cabbage and onions. The sauce was fiery hot – a perfect foil to the filling of the momo, which was relieved only by the faint taste of ginger and garlic. I fell in love with momos over a bowl of hot sauce, and the rest as they say, was history.
Though I was in Pune, and the momos I had had, were not authentic, it was the first step in my never ending love affair with momos. I was well and truly smitten. I embarked on a tasting adventure of sorts – picking out places reputed to have the finest momos, to sample their dishes. Some were up to the mark, and the praise for some was grossly exaggerated. I chanced upon David Johnson’s documentary, ‘Momo’, and fell in love with it. The association of rainy evenings, and hot, steamed momos has never left my imagination. Perhaps the best momos I ever had were in Ladakh, where the dish is a part of the traditional fare. They had an entirely different taste – maybe it was the stark backdrop of snow-capped mountains, or the constant cold, but the momos in ladakh were much better, than anywhere else I have eaten them.
Momos are said to be Tibetan in origin and entirely different from dim sums, but some consider momos to be a derivation of the latter. They are small dumplings, made from flour, and stuffed with meat, vegetables, mashed potatoes, or traditional Himalayan cheese. They can be either steamed, or fried. Sometimes, momos are also served in a broth. Thukpa is a Ladakhi noodle soup. It is pure comfort food! Made from noodles, and vegetables or meat, it resembles a stew, and can be spicy or plain.
Ladakhi cuisine is quite different from what we get in the rest of the country. It resembles Tibetan cuisine. Its flavours are more subtle, and unlike the cold dishes we find in Indian cuisine, most Ladakhi dishes are warm, and understandably so. It is a blend of Continental, Tibetan, and Indian food. Being mostly arid, the cold desert of Ladakh has scarce vegetation. Barley is cultivated here, and it forms a central part of the cuisine. Bread, prepared from flour of wheat or barley is eaten on a large scale. Homemade beer made from barley, called as chang, is quite popular in Ladakh.
A prominently Ladakhi drink is Butter tea, or gurgur cha. It is a blend of tea, milk, and butter made from yak milk. It has a high calorific value, in keeping with the harsh terrain, and the cold climate of Ladakh. For non-Ladakhis, it is an acquired taste, but many people end up loving the warm, buttery tea.
Another Ladakhi delicacy I absolutely adore, is skyu. It is similar to pasta, but more wholesome – maybe because all the ingredients are procured fresh! The pasta is made from wheat, and kind of looks like gnocchi. Root vegetables, and sometimes meat is added to the dish. It is creamy, and absolutely delicious!
Though located in the same state, Kashmiri cuisine quite differs from Ladakhi fare. The geographical difference between the two areas is startling – while Ladakh is brown and bare, Kashmir is a riot of colours. Ladakh is inaccessible in the winters, but Kashmir is not that remote.
Kashmiri cuisine has two broad types – the first, influenced by Kashmiri Pandits, in which ginger and garlic are absent, and the second, cooked in Muslim households, which is quite flavourful. The cuisine emphasizes rice and meat, and a variety of fragrant spices, like saffron, cloves, cinnamon, asafoetida and chillies, lend flavour to the food.
One of the most celebrated preparations is undoubtedly Rogan josh. It is a mutton based dish, redolent and full of beautiful spices which elevate its taste. Though it was brought to Kashmir by the Mughals, it is largely considered a Kashmiri staple. Luscious pieces of lamb rest on a dark gravy made from onions, yoghurt, and spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and saffron. Rogan Josh is a revelation to palates unfamiliar with the delicious Kashmiri dish. It is also served as a part of Wazwan, which is an elaborate 36 course meal, which is served in weddings or other important occasions in Kashmir. Cooking it is akin to an art. Many courses of Wazwan are meat based, and it is the ultimate dining experience related to Kashmiri cuisine. Other courses in Wazan can be Rista, a preparation of meatballs in gravy, Kebabs, which are pieces of meat grilled on a skew, and Gushtaba, a speciality of Kashmir, where minced meat is shaped into balls and cooked in a delicious yogurt-based gravy.
Another popular dish in Kashmir that happens to be vegetarian is dum aloo. It is far different from the insipid fare we get at most restaurants. Authentic kashmiri dum aloo is cooked with yoghurt, and spices, and tastes scrumptious. Another popular Kashmiri speciality is Nadru Yakhni, or lotus stem curry. Of course, it brings to mind the vistas of serene lakes, with shikaras floating in it, and miles and miles of beautiful countryside. Nadru Yakhni is made from stems of lotus, with a base of yoghurt and is enriched with spices. Though the ingredients may sound exotic, the dish is very tasty, and whenever I get the chance to sample this dish, I am always ready for seconds.
Desserts are few in Kashmiri cuisine. Shufta is a sweet dish, but it cannot be precisely called a dessert, as it is served alongside the rest of the dishes. Rich and lavish, it is made from dry fruits, sugar and saffron. Firni, the Kashmiri version of rice pudding is a beautiful sweet dish. It is of yellowish-orange colour, which comes from saffron. Unlike kheer, it is made from powdered rice. Spices like cardamom and cinnamon are infused into it, and it is served with dry fruits.
Kashmiri cuisine places an emphasis on tea. Kahwa, an aromatic tea is especially popular among Kashmiris, and non-Kashmiri people. It is infused with crushed almonds, green cardamom, cinnamon and rarely, saffron. Another Kashmiri tea is Noon chai, or Sheer chai. It is pink in colour, and made from tea leaves, milk, salt, almonds, cardamom and cinnamon.
Ladakhi and Kashmiri cuisine are utterly unique, and just sampling the authentic food is a delight! Though Kashmiri and Ladakhi cuisines are difficult to sample in the rest of the country, they still are a must try. Kashmiri cuisine is large served under the generic umbrella of ‘North-Indian’ dishes, but many times, the real deal hardly resembles what it is passed off as. Tibetan people, who reside in India have contributed to the popularity of Tibetan food, which shares many similarities with Ladakhi food. But to know what true Ladakhi, or Kashmiri food is, the best way would be to travel with us to this land of contrasts!
In the next post, we will travel to the sandy dunes of Rajasthan, to drool over food that is diverse and extremely tasty! Stay tuned to The Wander Girls!
Image credits: Wikimedia commons (Bashrat Shah, Incomposition, Kushal Goyal, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay, stu_spivack), mayeeka.blogspot, forum.urduworld, namakshamak.com
