India on My Platter (7 page)

The most recent and significant chapter in terms of war in Indian history was the Kargil War. I was only about 12 when this war took place. As a patriot, reading about it in the newspapers and in magazines everyday, watching it being talked about on television was hard but standing at the border and realising the sacrifices that the Indian Army has made, so that Indian families could sleep every night in peace was a different thing altogether. I had, and always will, salute the courage of our soldiers. While crossing Kargil, one should visit the Tiger Hill and pay homage to the soldiers who have sacrificed their today for our tomorrow.

After meeting the
jawans,
it was time to meet the
kisaans. We
travelled to a small town called Drass. Despite being the second coldest place in India, it was incredibly hot and I was sweating. A lot of barley is harvested in this part of the country and this was the first time I was seeing a crop being harvested. It was very interesting; we helped the farmers and got the barley cleaned and packed. In the ground form, there is a husk or chaff around it, which is removed by the process of threshing, which happens after harvesting but before winnowing. It separates the grain from anything inedible though the bran still remains. All this talk of barley was reminding me of a chilled glass of beer in this hot weather. I wish I had a pint while I was helping the farmers here to pick the right grains. Trust me, it is a lot of hard work, very laborious to be on your feet and keep cutting grains from a sickle.

I decided to do a small experiment by making
khichdi,
the regular Indian one, but with the freshly harvested barley. I decided to name the dish
Fresh Barley
Khichdi.
It was a fun moment to cook and share this lunch with these hardworking farmers, especially because Eid was around the corner and it seemed like a mini celebration.

F
RESH
B
ARLEY
K
HICHDI

(Popular rice dish made with fresh barley in this case.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Heat the
ghee
in a pressure cooker. When heated, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and asafoetida.

2.  Once the cumin seeds release a nutty aroma, add the onion, barley and
chana dal.
Sauté this for two to three minutes.

3.  Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, crushed peppercorns and salt. Mix well.

4.  Now add three cups water and give it a mix and let it come to a boil.

5.  Put the lid on, and cook for three whistles. (Reduce the flame to low after the first whistle.)

6.  Switch the gas off. Open the lid when the pressure reduces completely and serve hot, garnished with coriander.

∼

After the
khichdi,
I got a chance to join in a special celebration with a local Kashmiri family that does threshing for such crops. As I entered their beautiful house garden I was first greeted by the eldest man in the house, whom I acknowledged as Chacha Jaan. He wished me Eid Mubarak and as per the culture, gave me their traditional hug, right-left-right. It was a heart-warming gesture. Soon the whole family was out, greeting everybody. Chacha Jaan offered me the traditional
kahwah
(tea). I asked him about the drink and its ingredients, and his instant answer was, ‘After putting 12 different ingredients in a green tea it becomes
kahwah.
Things like almond, cinnamon, cardamom and other such ingredients go into it. The saffron in it is responsible for its rich colour.’

They served it in a traditional brass kettle called
samovar.
It consists of a ‘fire-container,’ running as a central cavity, in which live coals are placed to keep the tea perpetually hot. Around it, there is a space for water to boil and the tea leaves and other ingredients are mixed with the water. This kettle is used mainly for celebrations; it was indeed a celebration of great humility shown by this family for welcoming me and celebrating Eid with me. As I deeply inhaled the
kahwah,
I was lost in its aroma; the spiciness of cardamom, bittersweet taste of cinnamon, and the nuttiness of the almond. In short, it lived up to its reputation and the hype. After the tea and post-tea discussions I touched Chacha Jaan’s feet, promised to come back someday and bid adieu with a
‘Salaam Alaikum.’

The car was now headed to Srinagar. It was a long six-hour journey. While passing through some rough, almost barren hills, we saw a small community that was living in tents in the middle of nowhere. It was surprising and made all of us very curious. We stopped and decided to have a word with them to gratify our curiosities. They turned out to be from the Gujjar community. In Kashmir, this community mostly rears sheep. Their head chose to come and speak with me; it was a bit scary and unsettling, to be honest. I was surrounded by at least 60 to 70 people now and I was like a well-dressed alien for them. He explained, ‘We rear goats and sheep. We sell them too. There are goats, sheep, horses, and we take them to Punjab, sell them and come back. We mostly walk within these hills; we have our hidden and internal secret routes. We also use the milk from these animals and we make
ghee,
butter and Kalari cheese.’

I was quite fascinated to hear that name and also their secret internal passage story. It was a rare cheese to come by for anyone not living in Kashmir. Kalari is a traditionally ripened cheese product indigenous to Jammu and Kashmir; it is a very dense cheese and usually fried in its own fat and salted prior to being eaten. Now I was sure that random moments of joy only come to you when you choose to do random things, which in this case was stopping the car to meet a Gujjar community and being introduced to Kalari cheese!

D
AY
17

23 August / Srinagar

Welcome to Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the city known for Dal Lake, Lal Chowk, the Old City, and the houseboats. Dal Lake is like a self-contained city in itself and one of the most popular attractions of Srinagar. One of the most exciting things about this lake is that thousands of families are a part of this lake ecosystem where they have their own markets, schools, houses and temples. The most fascinating aspect for me was the floating
sabzi bazaar
(vegetable market), that takes place two kilometres inside the lake, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. everyday. The day started very early for me, at 3:45 a.m. to be precise. By now I had given up on looking like a good clean shaven boy for the camera; it wasn’t that easy anymore! At 4:30 a.m. it was still dark and the lake was faintly lit by the dark bluish sky; I had no idea how the person rowing the boat was figuring his way out.

Soon the dawn broke through the dark blue sky. It was 5 a.m. and the market was flooded with hundreds of boats around it. It looked like a wholesale vegetable and flower market but it was all floating. This market is primarily where farmers bring their produce and vegetable sellers buy them to be sold in the market. If you are wondering where do the vegetables come from, don’t be surprised when I tell you that the lake is fertile enough to produce vegetables. As I was looking around, I noticed that all the vegetables looked very fresh, as it was all organic. While exploring the floating market we also discovered little routes and alleys inside the lake. There was a whole world hidden within the lake, a lot of shops selling wooden artefacts and houses and gardens that you’d not notice from the outside. What an amazing start to the Srinagar trip!

If the vegetable market is on one side of the Dal Lake, houseboats take up the other side. To enjoy the houseboat experience, I met Javed Bhai. Once we reached the houseboat area on the lake, we noticed hundreds of houseboats in a line. Most of them looked old and weathered from outside, though I was told that a lot of owners had reworked on them and had updated the interiors. Javed Bhai’s houseboat was similar. As I entered, it seemed I had come to a different world; there were exquisite walnut-wood carvings and Kashmiri rugs lining the interior. There was not a single spot that didn’t have carvings. He explained, ‘All this is handmade, the whole inner panel of the boat is made by small pieces that are joined together and it is made of deodar wood. Houseboats are made with a lot of passion; it is a novelty, is supposed to give a unique experience to the guest that includes sampling Kashmir’s traditional food. The best bit was to be able to sit on the porch of the boat and gaze at the floating
shikaras
(light flat-bottomed boat); all peaceful and serene. Given a choice, I would always stay on a houseboat if I visit Srinagar again; no hotel compares to this experience. Javed Bhai had been an excellent host so it was time to repay him back by cooking in his houseboat kitchen. To remember the sweet memories of Srinagar, I made a sweet dish,
Saffron Fruit Cream.

S
AFFRON
F
RUIT
C
REAM

(Fresh fruits served in a smooth saffron flavoured cream.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Leave the ice cream out in a bowl for it to soften. Start beating chilled cream (very important for it to be chilled, or it might split) with a hand blender or an egg beater. Gradually add sugar in three parts and keep beating till sugar dissolves with the cream. When the cream is just light and fluffy and not totally whipped, set it aside. If you overdo the whipping, it might just curdle.

2.  Soak the Kashmiri saffron strands in warm milk for five minutes. Once saffron gives out its brilliant colour and flavour to the milk, mix it with the softened ice cream.

3.  Gently mix this saffron ice cream with the sugar and cream mix.

4.  Add all the chopped fruits and nuts to this saffron cream mixture. Chill it for 30 minutes.

5.  Enjoy as many cups as you like. Also these are some fruits that I like, you can skip any or add more of your choice.

∼

After this wonderful houseboat journey, it was time to meet a local family who was treating me to the king of all
thali
meals or the
wazwan.
This family, that I was supposed to meet, was related to Javed Bhai (from the houseboat) and the head of this family, coincidentally, was also named Javed. As I reached the latter’s house, I noticed that though the house was huge, it was very minimalistic in design and white in colour. He took me straight to his huge kitchen made up of a combination of marble and stone. The whole family was waiting for me so they could start their dinner. It was amazing how in only 20 days of travelling I had been loved by the entire group of families wherever I had visited. As I sat down on the floor in a group of four men facing each other, Javed explained,
‘Wazwan
is a unique concept in which
"waz"
means the chef who has rare culinary skills passed on to him through generations. He is an artist who is passionately involved with his art and carries the great Kashmiri tradition within him, and
"wan"
is a shop with the abundant supplies of meats and delicacies.’

These meats are then used for detailed preparation of delicacies and presented traditionally to showcase the charm of the nobility of Kashmiri cuisine. This meal is served on a big copper plate called
trami
containing the steamed rice on which the varieties of meat, that include
methi korma, seekh
kebab,
tabakh maaz, zafrani murgh
and
daniphul,
are beautifully placed dividing the
trami
into four, so that four people can eat from one plate itself to enhance the bond of brotherhood. Traditionally, a
wazwan
has 36 courses out of which 15-16 courses are made from meat, but I was just getting a glimpse of it. What got me worried was the thought of eating so much meat in one go; I doubt I had ever seen so much meat on one plate ever. Now it was time to begin the meal, but, first the lady of the house took me through a ritual washing of hands at a basin called the
tash-t-nari.
As one
trami
was finished, a new one was brought in, and then removed, and again a new one brought in, until the dinner was over. Five dishes that I was served on this occasion were
rista, rogan josh, tabak maaz, aab gosht
and
gushtaba.
The meal ended with
kahwah.
My favourite was the
gushtaba,
also called the king of
wazwan.
The size itself is so overwhelming on the plate that it does remind you of the king pawn on a chessboard. The meal, though too heavy on the meats for me, was delicious and super filling. The curries and gravies had a different texture and flavour to each of them. A lot of green cardamom was used in various dishes.