Kashmir in the Hearth

Cooking is history, ritual, and identity in Kashmir. Every meal carries the weight of centuries, the pulse of the seasons, and the warmth of family. To taste it is to touch the soul of the valley.

- Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee

The sun had only begun to touch Srinagar when I stepped into a kitchen alive with motion.

A mother fed her children as she stirred a pot of mutton curry, the aroma of yogurt, fennel, and cardamom curling in the air. Lavasa rested nearby, and each movement felt purposeful, a dance of care and tradition.

She paused, looked at me, and said, "Cooking remembers for us. It keeps our history alive."

Kashmiri food carries the valley's history in the way it simmers, folds, and blooms.

Centuries ago, the first inhabitants ate barley, rice, and wild greens. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam arrived and left traces in how people prepared and seasoned their food.

Traders, travellers and talisman from Central Asia and Persia brought spices, techniques, and dishes that transformed the valley's cuisine.

By the time Mughal influence reached the hills, Kashmiri cooking had become an art form, a marriage of local produce and exotic flavours, of patience and precision.

The fourteenth century brought a defining moment. King Zain-ul-Abidin invited master cooks from Central Asia into his court. They became the first wazas. They taught slow cooking, layering of spices, and the careful art of balancing flavour and fragrance.