What should you eat at a Kashmiri Pandit Food festival?

We recently had the opportunity to taste the delicious Kashmiri Pandit cuisine at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Gurugram during the ‘Jhelum’ - A Kashmiri Pandit Food Festival. It was curated by renowned Chef Rahul Wali and Executive Chef Sandeep Saini. The menu was a tribute to the rich culinary traditions of Kashmir. One of the most interesting things about the cuisine is that it does not have a rich gravy as it's made without onions, tomato and garlic generally used as a paste to thicken the gravy. The cuisine does use a rich variety of spices like the fennel, fenugreek, asafoetida and dried ginger to create curries which give it a rich flavour. 

The cuisine uses plenty of lamb and fishes that is served with rice and curd as a staple. The Rogan Josh is one of the most well-known dishes that is popular all over India. "It is considered as one of the oldest cuisines in India dating back to 326 BC with a mention in the Nilamata Puran vedic text," says chef Wali.

The tasting menu that we were served was beautiful of lamb, fish, yakhni, green vegetables, kashmiri rajma, lassi with saffron and apple tart. 

 Chef Rahul Rahul Wali