Traditional Kashmiri food

Kashmiri food can be mixture of the spices–cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, saffron, etc. The staple diet of every Kashmiri is rice.

Mutton, chicken or fish are of prime importance in Kashmiri meal. Mutton and turnips, chicken and spinach, fish and lotus root are also very popular combinations. Non-vegetarian dishes are considered in Kashmir to be a sign of hospitality. In any party, not more than one or two vegetarian dishes are served.

Pure vegetarian dishes include dum-aloo - roasted potatoes in curd-based gravy, and chaman- fried paneer (cottage cheese), in a thick sauce. To serve more than this would indicate an unseemly tendency on the part of the host to economize!

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, roganjosh, which owes its rich red colour to the generous use of Kashmiri chillies. Yakhni, is made with curd as a base. Gushtaba, which is the last item to be served in a traditional wazawan, are meatballs moulded from pounded mutton like large-sized Rista but cooked in thick gravy of fresh curd base.
Indian Recipes