Whenever you see anything “Kashmiri” on an Indian restaurant menu, it will invariably have dry fruits or raisins in there somewhere and it’ll be somewhat sweet. Of course, nuts and fruit are native to Kashmir, but they don’t put them in all their dishes as any Kashmiri will tell you! In fact, both Hindu and Muslim Kashmiri food depends on a diet rich in meat and vegetables like brinjals, leafy greens, turnips and lotus root and spices like dry ginger (saunth), fennel seeds (saunf), Kashmiri chilli powder and the world’s most expensive spice, saffron.
Some of the most popular Kashmiri foods include lamb or chicken in yoghurt gravy (yakhni), mutton slow-cooked in milk (aab gosht), lamb cooked in red chilli, hing, dried ginger and dried fennel (rogan josh), a yellow curry or kalia, crispy churma, greens (haak), deep-fried ribs (kabargah), koftas and fried fish. Pandit dishes do not use praan, a small shallot onion with a garlicy flavour (which is predominant in Kashmiri Muslim food), nor do they use any garlic or onion. But, they eat all the meats and fish at every meal and give body to their gravies with yoghurt.
Muslim Kashmiris also eat a large variety of meats, cooked with garlic, onion and whole spices. A Muslim feast or waazwan (named after the professional cooks or waaza) would also have delicious, deep-fried baby lamb ribs, which are first cooked in broth and then fried — tabak maaz — and large, silky meatballs called goshtaba or rista. Both use the Kashmiri red chilli, which has a bright red colour and a mild flavour. Dishes often combine vegetables and meat — mutton and turnips, chicken and spinach, fish and lotus root. Pure vegetarian dishes include dum aloo, deep fried potatoes in a yoghurt-based gravy, chaman, fried paneer and turnips with greens.
I visited Gold for dinner recently. It’s a very smart terrace restaurant on the floor above Ccasanova in Kalyani Nagar, serving Kashmiri and North Indian food. The décor, as you would expect, is gold and black in a very stylish setting, which includes a bar in the middle, some low lounge seating and formal dining. The only thing that looks Kashmiri are the waiters with their salwar-kurtas and the occasional kangri — little warming baskets with hot charcoal, placed under the table to warm the feet – a nice touch for the oncoming winter.
For a restaurant that has only been open a couple of months and owners who are neither Kashmiri nor have any other links with Kashmir, I was astounded at the quality of the food and the attention to detail. Rachna Punjabi, the owner of Gold and the Italian restaurant Ccasanova downstairs, is ‘one hell of a lady’. She decided she wanted to serve this cuisine, took a flight to Kashmir, educated herself on the intricacies of Kashmir Pandit and Muslim cooking, sought out a couple of chefs and ‘Bob’s Your Uncle’, and a few months later she opens a Kashmiri restaurant! Although the setting is very contemporary, the Kashmiri food we tasted seemed pretty authentic.
To start with the Nadur Munji, crispy friend lotus stem, is an excellent starter with drinks. I had to have my favourite Tabak maaz (crispy mutton ribs) and Kabar gah (a similar style mutton chop flavoured with saffron). The main courses are a little overwhelming, quite rich, and thankfully not oily. All the Kashmiri favourites — Rogan Josh (the real McCoy, not the usual red mutton curry you find in most restaurants), Rista (large koftas which have been massaged and massaged till the fat binds the meat), Chicken and Lotus Stem Yakhni (the only dish I thought needed improvement since the yoghurt was quite sour), and an outstanding fish kalia called Kashir Gaad. If you are looking for North Indian favourites, the Tandoori Chicken is delicate and flavourful. And, the dals — dal bukhara, razmaah, and yellow chhaunki dal, were all excellent. The razmaah, flavoured with amchoor, is the chef’s speciality.
You cannot leave without trying the desserts — slightly dense Baklava, a traditional Middle Eastern pastry stuffed with nuts and layered with sugar syrup is served with mouth-watering rose ice cream. The firun (phirni) is homemade in small terracotta pots.
The service is excellent and the restaurant has a full bar licence and a very comprehensive wine list including some of the best champagnes in the world. Single malt and whisky lovers will be pleased. There are more than a dozen to choose from. Would I go back? For sure!
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