History Of Wazwan

Kashmir is the northern part of India, located in the beautiful Himalayas. Kashmir is being praised all over the world not only for its enchanting natural beauty but also for its cultural richness. Kashmir is referred to as a “Paradise On Earth”. The valley has not been captivating people around the world only for its magical mountains, beauty and charm but also for its mouth-watering, appealing, delicious and spicy multi-course meal: the Wazwan.
Kashmir is the northern part of India, located in the beautiful Himalayas. Kashmir is being praised all over the world not only for its enchanting natural beauty but also for its cultural richness. Kashmir is referred to as a “Paradise On Earth”. The valley has not been captivating people around the world only for its magical mountains, beauty and charm but also for its mouth-watering, appealing, delicious and spicy multi-course meal: the Wazwan.
Wazwan is a collection of different mutton based dishes from goat, sheep, lamb although other elements such as chicken, cottage cheese and few exquisite vegetarian dishes are also there. Wazwan is one of the most loved and cherished cuisines to taste. It is popular all around the world. Once you taste it, you would crave for more. It has fascinated everyone, who has ever tasted it. The preparation of this royal banquet is considered an art, it needs a lot of skill and effort. Everything from making to serving is done in a unique way. Wazwan is not just a way to satiate the Hunger however a ceremony. You have to try it once to be a part of a wonderful experience. The Wazwan is representative of the royalty of the valley and its people, it is regarded as the pride of the valley.
During the past 5,000 years of its history, Kashmir has been at the crossroads of various civilizations and religions. Kashmir has been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Central Asian, and Persian civilizations and cultures. Kashmir is said to have close cultural relations with present-day China, Tibet, Central Asian cities, Afghanistan, and Iran. All these factors have contributed immensely to the evolution and development of present-day Kashmir and Kashmiri culture.
Chinese Tang Dynasty (722 AD)
Mihirakula (502–530 CE)
Nilamata Purana (530–600 CE)
Mauryas and Kushanas (618 AD – 707 AD)
Utpala and the Lohara dynasties
Shah Mir dynasty (1350 – 1400)
Kashmir Sultanate (1300 – 1400)
Mughals (1500 – 1750)
Durrani Empire (1747 – 1819)
Sikh Rule (1819–1846)
Dogra Rule (1846–1847)
British Raj (1857–1947)
Since 1947 till today Kashmir is administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley) and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (United Nations Security Council Resolution 47)
The Sufi connect
This Islamic factor dictates Wazwan is the Sufi philosophy of nothing going to waste
At the time of cooking and serving one prominent Sufi to have greatly influenced not only the making of Wazwan but also established the khanqah, a diktat that regulated the consumption of bread during the day
History mentions of the food culture, especially around the 15th and 16th century in books such as Dastur-i-Salikin and Tuḥfat-ul-Aḥbab (written by Mulla Muhammad Ali Kashmiri)
Islam was not introduced in Kashmir just as a religion but more like a culture,”
Most dishes of the wazwan — like the kababs, roganjosh, korma, gohstab, etc — derive their names from Persian. Its introduction to Kashmir is also attributed to the influx of Muslim saints from Iran and central Asia who spread the teachings of Islam.
Culinary History
14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiuddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty, who brought skilled persons of various professions including cooks from Samarkand to Kashmir. These skilled cooks, called wazas in the local language, cooked meat into various dishes and classified them according to shape and gravies used for their preparation. The credit for popularizing wazwan dishes goes to Persian and Sanskrit immigrants. The term waazi is basically a Sanskrit term waja, which means to cook. The origin of the term has also been derived from a Persian word, ashpaaz, which means a special cook proficient in making soups, and with the passage of time the term became waza . The basic prerequisite of a wazwan is that freshly slaughtered meat is used for its preparation. After acquiring the meat, the waza sorts it out for the different types of dishes—for example, ribcage is used to make tabakhmaaz, whereas boneless meat is ground and is used for preparation of kabab, rista, and goshtaba. A number of dishes are prepared in wazwan; among them, the seven important meat-based dishes are kabab, tabakmaaz, aab gosh, rogan josh, nate-yakhni, rista, and goshtaba. Wazwan dishes are traditionally prepared in copper utensils (named degs in Kashmiri) over simmering fires of wood, preferably obtained from old fruit trees
For events — the Kashmiri nobles hire a ‘VastaWaaza’ (Head Chef) who is tasked to prepare anywhere from 25–35 dishes for arriving guests. Of course, this is no easy task so the VastaWaaza brings his team (Could be up to 10 Waza’s).
The Kashmiri people are so well versed with the WaazWaan that the chefs and hosts are under pressure to live up-to to extremely high standards, so the logistics, resources and manpower required to prepare fresh and high quality food often mean it is common for the chefs to start cooking at Midnight all the way through to the next evening when the dishes will finally be served.
The wazwan dishes are mild in taste but rich in flavor due to utilizing the blend of local spices and herbs such as Saffron, dry fruits, dry-cockscomb flower, dry-fenugreek leaves, dry ginger powder, fennel seeds, shallots, fresh ginger garlic, tamarind, Kashmiri red chillies, black and green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, coriander, mint leaves, and clarified butter. Most of the Wazwan dishes are red in color, the red color is obtained from Kashmiri Red Chilies. Saffron is a key ingredient of Kashmiri wazwan, which is used to enhance the flavor and make it taste more elegant. Known for its thick gravies, the Wazwan is not deeply fried, rather it is slowly cooked over a low flame for hours called Dumphut. It is cooked with a great deal of precision, culinary art, passion, hard work, and enormous love.
Many dishes are prepared in Wazwan, from which seven ethnic meat-based dishes are the most essential, these are the basic dishes of every celebration.
Yakhni
Yakhni is a popular mouth watering Kashmir dish. It is a yogurt based curry and is either made with lamb or lotus stems. It is prepared in curd along with spices and does not have turmeric or red chilli powder. Bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms and fennel seeds lend primary flavours to this curry. The difference between yakhni and Aab gosht is that Aab Gosht is made with milk instead of yogurt.
Kashmiri Methi
Underneath all these dishes, lies Methi. It is a sort of stew usually made with lamb stomach and flavored with methi or fenugreek leaves. Don’t be a baby. It’s really good. There are 4 small divisions of methi .
Nate-Yakhni
This product is made from meat chunks approximately 5–6 cm in size, precooked in boiling water for 20 minutes and are then separated from broth. Yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at high heat with vigorous stirring until boiling. While boiling salt, spices, condiments, ghee, and meat broth are mixed with the curd, and boiling continues until a desired consistency is obtained. For nate, precooked meat chunks are added to the yakhni and boiled further to obtain nate-yakhni
Methi Maaz
Methi maaz is a flavorful, delicious, and one-of-a-Kind dish. It is derived from the word “Methi”, which means “fenugreek” and “maaz” which means “meat”. This flavoured gravy is made up of lamb stomach and intestines, that is chopped into small pieces and cooked in dry Fenugreek leaves. The fenugreek leaves add an amazing fragrance and distinct flavour.
Kebab
The origin of kabab is credited to the medieval soldiers who used to grill meat on their swords in the open fire. Ethnically the meat used for kabab making is lamb, but over the years different types of meats such as beef and buffalo meat have been used as per local and regional taste. Kababs are made up of fleshy meat that is minced on stone with a tukni (a wooden hammer). Eggs are added along with spice blends while mincing. Then the minced meat is wrapped around an iron rod of 20–30 cm length for cooking. Traditionally, kababs are cooked by charbroiling, but nowadays they are also prepared by grilling, roasting, or stewing.
Charbroiled kababs have a typical smoky flavor because of the contact of the charcoal with meat, and have a brown appearance, more yield, and better juiciness and texture as compared to oven.
Tabak maaz
Tabak maaz is a popular product of wazwan made from the rib portion of sheep meat
The rib of lamb or mutton is cut into small pieces, moderately steam cooked, marinated in turmeric and yogurt with spices. The rib bones are then removed, and only the meat chunks are shallow fried in desi ghee over mild heat for a longer period. The finished product becomes crispy in nature and served as dry pieces.
Daniwal Korma
The word ‘dhaniwal’ refers to coriander in the local Kashmiri language. Dhaniwal Korma is mutton korma cooked in a lot of coriander or dhaniya and yogurt based gravy .
Aab Gosht
Aab gosht is a sacral area of the vertebral column prepared in milk.
Aab gosht is one of the most liked dishes of Kashmiri cuisine. It’s a simple dish as compared to other dishes in Wazwan, yet very delicious and mild. This milk-based meat curry is cooked with a sweet milk gravy without hot spices. For the preparation of aab gosh, lamb or mutton is boiled in water with salt, ginger, garlic paste, and aniseed powder. The milk is then boiled along with spices such as green cardamom, onions, pepper, and ghee, to which the lamb or mutton is added. The meat along with milk curry is then stirred thoroughly until it boils well.
When the meat is tender, white creamy milk is added and stirred around over a gentle heat until it cooks well.
Rogan josh
Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan, which means “oil or fat,” and josh, which means “intense heat.” Thus, roganjosh means made in oil at intense heat . Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan (which means red color) and josh (which means either passion or heat) . Kashmiri red chillies impart the color and make it mildly hot, but the red color of the dish is attributed to the extract from dried cockscomb flowers, locally known as mawual. The lamb or mutton meat is marinated for 2 hours and is cooked in oil with added spices until it becomes brown. After that, it is stirred in a cooking vessel to develop its characteristic flavor.
Mirchi Korma
Among the many curry dishes of Kashmiri cuisine, the royal korma has held a special place. Kashmiri Wazwan is incomplete without a Mirchi Korma. It is extremely spicy, deliciously spiced with lots of dried Kashmiri red chilies and ground spices. This fiery red hot curry is made with little pieces of meat, flavored with soaked red chilies, they need to be soaked in hot water then de-seeded and grinded into a smooth paste. Mirchi Korma is one of the best curry dishes, which gives a classic taste of red dried chilies, it is a delight for all mutton lovers. This dish has many health benefits, protects the heart, treats stomach upset, and helps cure cold, nasal congestion, and digestion.
Mirchi ka korma
Marchwangan means red chilly in kashmiri. This dish as spicy as it sounds. Mutton korma is cooked with fiery hot Kashmiri chillies and spices.
Gushtab Yakhni
Known as a “King of Kashmiri Dishes” Goshtaba is a popular meat product of like rista, it is prepared from pounded meat emulsion. The only difference is that goshtaba is cooked in gravy called yakhni made from curd, water, spices, and condiments
The specialty of this dish is that the meat is minced with fat to make it more delicious. The meatballs are pre-cooked in boiling water over a medium flame till most of the broth evaporates. The yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at the high flame with continuous stirring till it boils. While boiling essential ingredients (fennel seeds, cloves, green and black cardamoms, Cinnamon sticks) are added, once spices give aroma and flavor to the yakhni, the precooked meat dumplings are added and boiled further until the desired consistency is obtained. When done dried mint leaves are added. The dried mint leaves are prime flavor to the dish. The velvety and creamy textured meatballs are royal in taste which can lift up the spirits.
Rista
Rista is a restructured meat product of Kashmiri wazwan prepared from meat emulsion with added fat (20%), salt, cumin, and cardamom seeds . The emulsion is prepared from mutton or beef depending on local, ethnic, or regional taste. The emulsion is manually pounded along with fat using a specially designed wooden hammer called goshpare (gosh means meat and pare means hammer) over a stone platform called maz-kaane (maz means meat and kaene means stone), and spices, salt, and a small quantity of chilled water are added while it is being minced. The meat emulsion is then pressed by hands and rolled between palms into compact balls. The meatballs are then processed in gravy to get rista as the finished product. The gravy is made from water, red chili extract, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and a ground spice mixture and condiments.
Waza chamman
Paneer(Cheese) is called Chhaman in Kashmiri. Paneer is simmered in tomato sauce, flavoured with spices and fennel seeds (cheese with Tomato gravy). Each tarami has one piece served by waza which is then equally distributed.
Breads
Kashmiris love to have baker’s bread for their breakfast and hence, every Kashmiri colony has one traditional bakery known as ‘Kaandar/ Kandur’. Kandurs can be found everywhere in the cities, every locality will have one atleast. In Kashmir, there is a bread for every season. Bread is an integral part of social customs too – engagements, weddings, birth. Long before dawn, hundreds of baker families (Kandurs) in the Valley fire up wood tandoors and start making bread. These breads go well with salty pink tea called Nun chai. There are many types of traditional breads like chot, katlam, kulcha, lavaas etc
Kashmiri Namkeen Kulcha
If you don’t have yeast at home and you want to make some Kashmiri bread, you should try this recipe for Kashmiri kulcha by Tasty Bitz. Made with maida, soda, and salt among other ingredients, the kulchas are easy to make.
Girda/Roti
This is amedium sized everyday bread. Everyone has it for breakfast with butter or jam. This is prepared by kandur in tandoor on a daily basis by putting his finger impressions and then places it in tandoor. It’s golden on the upper side and white from below. A Kashmiri’s day is incomplete without Roti.
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai
Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers. The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai. It is made with black tea, milk, salt and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda. The Kashmiri Hindus more commonly refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai."
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur (Kashmiri or bakers. It is one of the most basic and essential food items in a Kashmiri household.
Serving Wazwan
When dishes are finally prepared, the chefs also take personal responsibility of serving the dishes prepared by themselves.
Once the cooking is done, then preparations are made to serve. Frist of all the dastarkhawans are laid out in the dining area. Dastarkhawan is a long white sheet used as a sanitary surface and it increases the aura of the dining area. Firstly maid or waiter washing the hands of guest’s while they seated on Desterkhan. Hands are washed in a “Tash t Naer” in a royal manner. “Tash-t-Naer” is a hand-engraved copper vessel used for washing hands. The portable basin is carried out one by one passed around the guests
Traditionally, wazwan is eaten while sitting on Desterkhwan on the floor and it is eaten by hands without any cutlery
The Waza starts serving the first course in the “Treamis”. A traem. Wazwan is a three-course meal consists of an appetizer, main course, and dessert is served in a specific order. However,
Traditionally the guest coming to the banquets are seated in groups of four sharing a large metal plated called the Trami. Trami is a large copper platter; each trami is usually shared by four people. The curd and chutney are served separately in small earthen pots.
The first course or appetizer starts with rice and the few dishes are placed on top of the rice. Rice is served on the Trami and decorated with methi, kabab, tabak maaz, daen fhol, fried chicken, etc.
Minutes after the last traem is served, the wazas dressed in traditional white kameez shalwar make rounds, topping up the plates with more delicacies. Though the idea is to alternate between strong and mild flavour profiles, there is no hard and fast rule.
In the middle of the feast, the wazas arrive with vegetable-based dishes: the much loved large chunks of cheese cooked in thick tomato gravy, spinach and mushrooms or tiny chunks of boneless mutton.
In evolution
The food habits of the majority of the population of Kashmir are predominantly non-vegetarian. Wazwan is the ultimate name in Kashmiri banquet and is a formal meal prepared on special occasions such as Kashmiri weddings
From its lavish yet simple seven dishes, the wazwan has evolved to incorporate luxury and emphasis on the guests served. About thirty dishes are now being served during the mahraz saal, literally the feast for the groom, on the night the marriage is solemnized, said Khan.
At Last- The Good part
Kashmiri Wazwan isn’t only popular because of its taste rather it is because of the culture associated with it. It teaches equality, togetherness, love, sharing, and regard for others. Guests are not discriminated against on the basis of their religion or their social or financial status anyone can sit next to you and can be part of your Treami. is a collection of different mutton based dishes from goat, sheep, lamb although other elements such as chicken, cottage cheese and few exquisite vegetarian dishes are also there. Wazwan is one of the most loved and cherished cuisines to taste. It is popular all around the world. Once you taste it, you would crave for more. It has fascinated everyone, who has ever tasted it. The preparation of this royal banquet is considered an art, it needs a lot of skill and effort. Everything from making to serving is done in a unique way. Wazwan is not just a way to satiate the Hunger however a ceremony. You have to try it once to be a part of a wonderful experience. The Wazwan is representative of the royalty of the valley and its people, it is regarded as the pride of the valley.

During the past 5,000 years of its history, Kashmir has been at the crossroads of various civilizations and religions. Kashmir has been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Central Asian, and Persian civilizations and cultures. Kashmir is said to have close cultural relations with present-day China, Tibet, Central Asian cities, Afghanistan, and Iran. All these factors have contributed immensely to the evolution and development of present-day Kashmir and Kashmiri culture.
Chinese Tang Dynasty (722 AD)
Mihirakula (502–530 CE)
Nilamata Purana (530–600 CE)
Mauryas and Kushanas (618 AD – 707 AD)
Utpala and the Lohara dynasties
Shah Mir dynasty (1350 – 1400)
Kashmir Sultanate (1300 – 1400)
Mughals (1500 – 1750)
Durrani Empire (1747 – 1819)
Sikh Rule (1819–1846)
Dogra Rule (1846–1847)
British Raj (1857–1947)
Since 1947 till today Kashmir is administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley) and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (United Nations Security Council Resolution 47)
The Sufi connect
This Islamic factor dictates Wazwan is the Sufi philosophy of nothing going to waste
At the time of cooking and serving one prominent Sufi to have greatly influenced not only the making of Wazwan but also established the khanqah, a diktat that regulated the consumption of bread during the day
History mentions of the food culture, especially around the 15th and 16th century in books such as Dastur-i-Salikin and Tuḥfat-ul-Aḥbab (written by Mulla Muhammad Ali Kashmiri)
Islam was not introduced in Kashmir just as a religion but more like a culture,”
Most dishes of the wazwan — like the kababs, roganjosh, korma, gohstab, etc — derive their names from Persian. Its introduction to Kashmir is also attributed to the influx of Muslim saints from Iran and central Asia who spread the teachings of Islam.
Culinary History
14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiuddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty, who brought skilled persons of various professions including cooks from Samarkand to Kashmir. These skilled cooks, called wazas in the local language, cooked meat into various dishes and classified them according to shape and gravies used for their preparation. The credit for popularizing wazwan dishes goes to Persian and Sanskrit immigrants. The term waazi is basically a Sanskrit term waja, which means to cook. The origin of the term has also been derived from a Persian word, ashpaaz, which means a special cook proficient in making soups, and with the passage of time the term became waza . The basic prerequisite of a wazwan is that freshly slaughtered meat is used for its preparation. After acquiring the meat, the waza sorts it out for the different types of dishes—for example, ribcage is used to make tabakhmaaz, whereas boneless meat is ground and is used for preparation of kabab, rista, and goshtaba. A number of dishes are prepared in wazwan; among them, the seven important meat-based dishes are kabab, tabakmaaz, aab gosh, rogan josh, nate-yakhni, rista, and goshtaba. Wazwan dishes are traditionally prepared in copper utensils (named degs in Kashmiri) over simmering fires of wood, preferably obtained from old fruit trees
For events — the Kashmiri nobles hire a ‘VastaWaaza’ (Head Chef) who is tasked to prepare anywhere from 25–35 dishes for arriving guests. Of course, this is no easy task so the VastaWaaza brings his team (Could be up to 10 Waza’s).
The Kashmiri people are so well versed with the WaazWaan that the chefs and hosts are under pressure to live up-to to extremely high standards, so the logistics, resources and manpower required to prepare fresh and high quality food often mean it is common for the chefs to start cooking at Midnight all the way through to the next evening when the dishes will finally be served.
The wazwan dishes are mild in taste but rich in flavor due to utilizing the blend of local spices and herbs such as Saffron, dry fruits, dry-cockscomb flower, dry-fenugreek leaves, dry ginger powder, fennel seeds, shallots, fresh ginger garlic, tamarind, Kashmiri red chillies, black and green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, coriander, mint leaves, and clarified butter. Most of the Wazwan dishes are red in color, the red color is obtained from Kashmiri Red Chilies. Saffron is a key ingredient of Kashmiri wazwan, which is used to enhance the flavor and make it taste more elegant. Known for its thick gravies, the Wazwan is not deeply fried, rather it is slowly cooked over a low flame for hours called Dumphut. It is cooked with a great deal of precision, culinary art, passion, hard work, and enormous love.
Many dishes are prepared in Wazwan, from which seven ethnic meat-based dishes are the most essential, these are the basic dishes of every celebration.
Yakhni
Yakhni is a popular mouth watering Kashmir dish. It is a yogurt based curry and is either made with lamb or lotus stems. It is prepared in curd along with spices and does not have turmeric or red chilli powder. Bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms and fennel seeds lend primary flavours to this curry. The difference between yakhni and Aab gosht is that Aab Gosht is made with milk instead of yogurt.
Kashmiri Methi
Underneath all these dishes, lies Methi. It is a sort of stew usually made with lamb stomach and flavored with methi or fenugreek leaves. Don’t be a baby. It’s really good. There are 4 small divisions of methi .
Nate-Yakhni
This product is made from meat chunks approximately 5–6 cm in size, precooked in boiling water for 20 minutes and are then separated from broth. Yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at high heat with vigorous stirring until boiling. While boiling salt, spices, condiments, ghee, and meat broth are mixed with the curd, and boiling continues until a desired consistency is obtained. For nate, precooked meat chunks are added to the yakhni and boiled further to obtain nate-yakhni
Methi Maaz
Methi maaz is a flavorful, delicious, and one-of-a-Kind dish. It is derived from the word “Methi”, which means “fenugreek” and “maaz” which means “meat”. This flavoured gravy is made up of lamb stomach and intestines, that is chopped into small pieces and cooked in dry Fenugreek leaves. The fenugreek leaves add an amazing fragrance and distinct flavour.
Kebab
The origin of kabab is credited to the medieval soldiers who used to grill meat on their swords in the open fire. Ethnically the meat used for kabab making is lamb, but over the years different types of meats such as beef and buffalo meat have been used as per local and regional taste. Kababs are made up of fleshy meat that is minced on stone with a tukni (a wooden hammer). Eggs are added along with spice blends while mincing. Then the minced meat is wrapped around an iron rod of 20–30 cm length for cooking. Traditionally, kababs are cooked by charbroiling, but nowadays they are also prepared by grilling, roasting, or stewing.
Charbroiled kababs have a typical smoky flavor because of the contact of the charcoal with meat, and have a brown appearance, more yield, and better juiciness and texture as compared to oven.
Tabak maaz
Tabak maaz is a popular product of wazwan made from the rib portion of sheep meat
The rib of lamb or mutton is cut into small pieces, moderately steam cooked, marinated in turmeric and yogurt with spices. The rib bones are then removed, and only the meat chunks are shallow fried in desi ghee over mild heat for a longer period. The finished product becomes crispy in nature and served as dry pieces.
Daniwal Korma
The word ‘dhaniwal’ refers to coriander in the local Kashmiri language. Dhaniwal Korma is mutton korma cooked in a lot of coriander or dhaniya and yogurt based gravy .
Aab Gosht
Aab gosht is a sacral area of the vertebral column prepared in milk.
Aab gosht is one of the most liked dishes of Kashmiri cuisine. It’s a simple dish as compared to other dishes in Wazwan, yet very delicious and mild. This milk-based meat curry is cooked with a sweet milk gravy without hot spices. For the preparation of aab gosh, lamb or mutton is boiled in water with salt, ginger, garlic paste, and aniseed powder. The milk is then boiled along with spices such as green cardamom, onions, pepper, and ghee, to which the lamb or mutton is added. The meat along with milk curry is then stirred thoroughly until it boils well.
When the meat is tender, white creamy milk is added and stirred around over a gentle heat until it cooks well.
Rogan josh
Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan, which means “oil or fat,” and josh, which means “intense heat.” Thus, roganjosh means made in oil at intense heat . Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan (which means red color) and josh (which means either passion or heat) . Kashmiri red chillies impart the color and make it mildly hot, but the red color of the dish is attributed to the extract from dried cockscomb flowers, locally known as mawual. The lamb or mutton meat is marinated for 2 hours and is cooked in oil with added spices until it becomes brown. After that, it is stirred in a cooking vessel to develop its characteristic flavor.
Mirchi Korma
Among the many curry dishes of Kashmiri cuisine, the royal korma has held a special place. Kashmiri Wazwan is incomplete without a Mirchi Korma. It is extremely spicy, deliciously spiced with lots of dried Kashmiri red chilies and ground spices. This fiery red hot curry is made with little pieces of meat, flavored with soaked red chilies, they need to be soaked in hot water then de-seeded and grinded into a smooth paste. Mirchi Korma is one of the best curry dishes, which gives a classic taste of red dried chilies, it is a delight for all mutton lovers. This dish has many health benefits, protects the heart, treats stomach upset, and helps cure cold, nasal congestion, and digestion.
Mirchi ka korma
Marchwangan means red chilly in kashmiri. This dish as spicy as it sounds. Mutton korma is cooked with fiery hot Kashmiri chillies and spices.
Gushtab Yakhni
Known as a “King of Kashmiri Dishes” Goshtaba is a popular meat product of like rista, it is prepared from pounded meat emulsion. The only difference is that goshtaba is cooked in gravy called yakhni made from curd, water, spices, and condiments
The specialty of this dish is that the meat is minced with fat to make it more delicious. The meatballs are pre-cooked in boiling water over a medium flame till most of the broth evaporates. The yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at the high flame with continuous stirring till it boils. While boiling essential ingredients (fennel seeds, cloves, green and black cardamoms, Cinnamon sticks) are added, once spices give aroma and flavor to the yakhni, the precooked meat dumplings are added and boiled further until the desired consistency is obtained. When done dried mint leaves are added. The dried mint leaves are prime flavor to the dish. The velvety and creamy textured meatballs are royal in taste which can lift up the spirits.
Rista
Rista is a restructured meat product of Kashmiri wazwan prepared from meat emulsion with added fat (20%), salt, cumin, and cardamom seeds . The emulsion is prepared from mutton or beef depending on local, ethnic, or regional taste. The emulsion is manually pounded along with fat using a specially designed wooden hammer called goshpare (gosh means meat and pare means hammer) over a stone platform called maz-kaane (maz means meat and kaene means stone), and spices, salt, and a small quantity of chilled water are added while it is being minced. The meat emulsion is then pressed by hands and rolled between palms into compact balls. The meatballs are then processed in gravy to get rista as the finished product. The gravy is made from water, red chili extract, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and a ground spice mixture and condiments.
Waza chamman
Paneer(Cheese) is called Chhaman in Kashmiri. Paneer is simmered in tomato sauce, flavoured with spices and fennel seeds (cheese with Tomato gravy). Each tarami has one piece served by waza which is then equally distributed.
Breads
Kashmiris love to have baker’s bread for their breakfast and hence, every Kashmiri colony has one traditional bakery known as ‘Kaandar/ Kandur’. Kandurs can be found everywhere in the cities, every locality will have one atleast. In Kashmir, there is a bread for every season. Bread is an integral part of social customs too – engagements, weddings, birth. Long before dawn, hundreds of baker families (Kandurs) in the Valley fire up wood tandoors and start making bread. These breads go well with salty pink tea called Nun chai. There are many types of traditional breads like chot, katlam, kulcha, lavaas etc
Kashmiri Namkeen Kulcha
If you don’t have yeast at home and you want to make some Kashmiri bread, you should try this recipe for Kashmiri kulcha by Tasty Bitz. Made with maida, soda, and salt among other ingredients, the kulchas are easy to make.
Girda/Roti
This is amedium sized everyday bread. Everyone has it for breakfast with butter or jam. This is prepared by kandur in tandoor on a daily basis by putting his finger impressions and then places it in tandoor. It’s golden on the upper side and white from below. A Kashmiri’s day is incomplete without Roti.
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai
Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers. The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai. It is made with black tea, milk, salt and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda. The Kashmiri Hindus more commonly refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai."
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur (Kashmiri or bakers. It is one of the most basic and essential food items in a Kashmiri household.
Serving Wazwan
When dishes are finally prepared, the chefs also take personal responsibility of serving the dishes prepared by themselves.
Once the cooking is done, then preparations are made to serve. Frist of all the dastarkhawans are laid out in the dining area. Dastarkhawan is a long white sheet used as a sanitary surface and it increases the aura of the dining area. Firstly maid or waiter washing the hands of guest’s while they seated on Desterkhan. Hands are washed in a “Tash t Naer” in a royal manner. “Tash-t-Naer” is a hand-engraved copper vessel used for washing hands. The portable basin is carried out one by one passed around the guests
Traditionally, wazwan is eaten while sitting on Desterkhwan on the floor and it is eaten by hands without any cutlery
The Waza starts serving the first course in the “Treamis”. A traem. Wazwan is a three-course meal consists of an appetizer, main course, and dessert is served in a specific order. However,
Traditionally the guest coming to the banquets are seated in groups of four sharing a large metal plated called the Trami. Trami is a large copper platter; each trami is usually shared by four people. The curd and chutney are served separately in small earthen pots.
The first course or appetizer starts with rice and the few dishes are placed on top of the rice. Rice is served on the Trami and decorated with methi, kabab, tabak maaz, daen fhol, fried chicken, etc.
Minutes after the last traem is served, the wazas dressed in traditional white kameez shalwar make rounds, topping up the plates with more delicacies. Though the idea is to alternate between strong and mild flavour profiles, there is no hard and fast rule.
In the middle of the feast, the wazas arrive with vegetable-based dishes: the much loved large chunks of cheese cooked in thick tomato gravy, spinach and mushrooms or tiny chunks of boneless mutton.
In evolution
The food habits of the majority of the population of Kashmir are predominantly non-vegetarian. Wazwan is the ultimate name in Kashmiri banquet and is a formal meal prepared on special occasions such as Kashmiri weddings
From its lavish yet simple seven dishes, the wazwan has evolved to incorporate luxury and emphasis on the guests served. About thirty dishes are now being served during the mahraz saal, literally the feast for the groom, on the night the marriage is solemnized, said Khan.
At Last- The Good part
Kashmiri Wazwan isn’t only popular because of its taste rather it is because of the culture associated with it. It teaches equality, togetherness, love, sharing, and regard for others. Guests are not discriminated against on the basis of their religion or their social or financial status anyone can sit next to you and can be part of your Treami.
During the past 5,000 years of its history, Kashmir has been at the crossroads of various civilizations and religions. Kashmir has been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Central Asian, and Persian civilizations and cultures. Kashmir is said to have close cultural relations with present-day China, Tibet, Central Asian cities, Afghanistan, and Iran. All these factors have contributed immensely to the evolution and development of present-day Kashmir and Kashmiri culture.
Chinese Tang Dynasty (722 AD)
Mihirakula (502–530 CE)
Nilamata Purana (530–600 CE)
Mauryas and Kushanas (618 AD – 707 AD)
Utpala and the Lohara dynasties
Shah Mir dynasty (1350 – 1400)
Kashmir Sultanate (1300 – 1400)
Mughals (1500 – 1750)
Durrani Empire (1747 – 1819)
Sikh Rule (1819–1846)
Dogra Rule (1846–1847)
British Raj (1857–1947)
Since 1947 till today Kashmir is administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley) and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (United Nations Security Council Resolution 47)
The Sufi connect
This Islamic factor dictates Wazwan is the Sufi philosophy of nothing going to waste
At the time of cooking and serving one prominent Sufi to have greatly influenced not only the making of Wazwan but also established the khanqah, a diktat that regulated the consumption of bread during the day
History mentions of the food culture, especially around the 15th and 16th century in books such as Dastur-i-Salikin and Tuḥfat-ul-Aḥbab (written by Mulla Muhammad Ali Kashmiri)
Islam was not introduced in Kashmir just as a religion but more like a culture,”
Most dishes of the wazwan — like the kababs, roganjosh, korma, gohstab, etc — derive their names from Persian. Its introduction to Kashmir is also attributed to the influx of Muslim saints from Iran and central Asia who spread the teachings of Islam.
Culinary History
14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiuddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty, who brought skilled persons of various professions including cooks from Samarkand to Kashmir. These skilled cooks, called wazas in the local language, cooked meat into various dishes and classified them according to shape and gravies used for their preparation. The credit for popularizing wazwan dishes goes to Persian and Sanskrit immigrants. The term waazi is basically a Sanskrit term waja, which means to cook. The origin of the term has also been derived from a Persian word, ashpaaz, which means a special cook proficient in making soups, and with the passage of time the term became waza . The basic prerequisite of a wazwan is that freshly slaughtered meat is used for its preparation. After acquiring the meat, the waza sorts it out for the different types of dishes—for example, ribcage is used to make tabakhmaaz, whereas boneless meat is ground and is used for preparation of kabab, rista, and goshtaba. A number of dishes are prepared in wazwan; among them, the seven important meat-based dishes are kabab, tabakmaaz, aab gosh, rogan josh, nate-yakhni, rista, and goshtaba. Wazwan dishes are traditionally prepared in copper utensils (named degs in Kashmiri) over simmering fires of wood, preferably obtained from old fruit trees
For events — the Kashmiri nobles hire a ‘VastaWaaza’ (Head Chef) who is tasked to prepare anywhere from 25–35 dishes for arriving guests. Of course, this is no easy task so the VastaWaaza brings his team (Could be up to 10 Waza’s).
The Kashmiri people are so well versed with the WaazWaan that the chefs and hosts are under pressure to live up-to to extremely high standards, so the logistics, resources and manpower required to prepare fresh and high quality food often mean it is common for the chefs to start cooking at Midnight all the way through to the next evening when the dishes will finally be served.
The wazwan dishes are mild in taste but rich in flavor due to utilizing the blend of local spices and herbs such as Saffron, dry fruits, dry-cockscomb flower, dry-fenugreek leaves, dry ginger powder, fennel seeds, shallots, fresh ginger garlic, tamarind, Kashmiri red chillies, black and green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, coriander, mint leaves, and clarified butter. Most of the Wazwan dishes are red in color, the red color is obtained from Kashmiri Red Chilies. Saffron is a key ingredient of Kashmiri wazwan, which is used to enhance the flavor and make it taste more elegant. Known for its thick gravies, the Wazwan is not deeply fried, rather it is slowly cooked over a low flame for hours called Dumphut. It is cooked with a great deal of precision, culinary art, passion, hard work, and enormous love.
Many dishes are prepared in Wazwan, from which seven ethnic meat-based dishes are the most essential, these are the basic dishes of every celebration.
Yakhni
Yakhni is a popular mouth watering Kashmir dish. It is a yogurt based curry and is either made with lamb or lotus stems. It is prepared in curd along with spices and does not have turmeric or red chilli powder. Bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms and fennel seeds lend primary flavours to this curry. The difference between yakhni and Aab gosht is that Aab Gosht is made with milk instead of yogurt.
Kashmiri Methi
Underneath all these dishes, lies Methi. It is a sort of stew usually made with lamb stomach and flavored with methi or fenugreek leaves. Don’t be a baby. It’s really good. There are 4 small divisions of methi .
Nate-Yakhni
This product is made from meat chunks approximately 5–6 cm in size, precooked in boiling water for 20 minutes and are then separated from broth. Yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at high heat with vigorous stirring until boiling. While boiling salt, spices, condiments, ghee, and meat broth are mixed with the curd, and boiling continues until a desired consistency is obtained. For nate, precooked meat chunks are added to the yakhni and boiled further to obtain nate-yakhni
Methi Maaz
Methi maaz is a flavorful, delicious, and one-of-a-Kind dish. It is derived from the word “Methi”, which means “fenugreek” and “maaz” which means “meat”. This flavoured gravy is made up of lamb stomach and intestines, that is chopped into small pieces and cooked in dry Fenugreek leaves. The fenugreek leaves add an amazing fragrance and distinct flavour.
Kebab
The origin of kabab is credited to the medieval soldiers who used to grill meat on their swords in the open fire. Ethnically the meat used for kabab making is lamb, but over the years different types of meats such as beef and buffalo meat have been used as per local and regional taste. Kababs are made up of fleshy meat that is minced on stone with a tukni (a wooden hammer). Eggs are added along with spice blends while mincing. Then the minced meat is wrapped around an iron rod of 20–30 cm length for cooking. Traditionally, kababs are cooked by charbroiling, but nowadays they are also prepared by grilling, roasting, or stewing.
Charbroiled kababs have a typical smoky flavor because of the contact of the charcoal with meat, and have a brown appearance, more yield, and better juiciness and texture as compared to oven.
Tabak maaz
Tabak maaz is a popular product of wazwan made from the rib portion of sheep meat
The rib of lamb or mutton is cut into small pieces, moderately steam cooked, marinated in turmeric and yogurt with spices. The rib bones are then removed, and only the meat chunks are shallow fried in desi ghee over mild heat for a longer period. The finished product becomes crispy in nature and served as dry pieces.
Daniwal Korma
The word ‘dhaniwal’ refers to coriander in the local Kashmiri language. Dhaniwal Korma is mutton korma cooked in a lot of coriander or dhaniya and yogurt based gravy .
Aab Gosht
Aab gosht is a sacral area of the vertebral column prepared in milk.
Aab gosht is one of the most liked dishes of Kashmiri cuisine. It’s a simple dish as compared to other dishes in Wazwan, yet very delicious and mild. This milk-based meat curry is cooked with a sweet milk gravy without hot spices. For the preparation of aab gosh, lamb or mutton is boiled in water with salt, ginger, garlic paste, and aniseed powder. The milk is then boiled along with spices such as green cardamom, onions, pepper, and ghee, to which the lamb or mutton is added. The meat along with milk curry is then stirred thoroughly until it boils well.
When the meat is tender, white creamy milk is added and stirred around over a gentle heat until it cooks well.
Rogan josh
Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan, which means “oil or fat,” and josh, which means “intense heat.” Thus, roganjosh means made in oil at intense heat . Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan (which means red color) and josh (which means either passion or heat) . Kashmiri red chillies impart the color and make it mildly hot, but the red color of the dish is attributed to the extract from dried cockscomb flowers, locally known as mawual. The lamb or mutton meat is marinated for 2 hours and is cooked in oil with added spices until it becomes brown. After that, it is stirred in a cooking vessel to develop its characteristic flavor.
Mirchi Korma
Among the many curry dishes of Kashmiri cuisine, the royal korma has held a special place. Kashmiri Wazwan is incomplete without a Mirchi Korma. It is extremely spicy, deliciously spiced with lots of dried Kashmiri red chilies and ground spices. This fiery red hot curry is made with little pieces of meat, flavored with soaked red chilies, they need to be soaked in hot water then de-seeded and grinded into a smooth paste. Mirchi Korma is one of the best curry dishes, which gives a classic taste of red dried chilies, it is a delight for all mutton lovers. This dish has many health benefits, protects the heart, treats stomach upset, and helps cure cold, nasal congestion, and digestion.
Mirchi ka korma
Marchwangan means red chilly in kashmiri. This dish as spicy as it sounds. Mutton korma is cooked with fiery hot Kashmiri chillies and spices.
Gushtab Yakhni
Known as a “King of Kashmiri Dishes” Goshtaba is a popular meat product of like rista, it is prepared from pounded meat emulsion. The only difference is that goshtaba is cooked in gravy called yakhni made from curd, water, spices, and condiments
The specialty of this dish is that the meat is minced with fat to make it more delicious. The meatballs are pre-cooked in boiling water over a medium flame till most of the broth evaporates. The yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at the high flame with continuous stirring till it boils. While boiling essential ingredients (fennel seeds, cloves, green and black cardamoms, Cinnamon sticks) are added, once spices give aroma and flavor to the yakhni, the precooked meat dumplings are added and boiled further until the desired consistency is obtained. When done dried mint leaves are added. The dried mint leaves are prime flavor to the dish. The velvety and creamy textured meatballs are royal in taste which can lift up the spirits.
Rista
Rista is a restructured meat product of Kashmiri wazwan prepared from meat emulsion with added fat (20%), salt, cumin, and cardamom seeds . The emulsion is prepared from mutton or beef depending on local, ethnic, or regional taste. The emulsion is manually pounded along with fat using a specially designed wooden hammer called goshpare (gosh means meat and pare means hammer) over a stone platform called maz-kaane (maz means meat and kaene means stone), and spices, salt, and a small quantity of chilled water are added while it is being minced. The meat emulsion is then pressed by hands and rolled between palms into compact balls. The meatballs are then processed in gravy to get rista as the finished product. The gravy is made from water, red chili extract, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and a ground spice mixture and condiments.
Waza chamman
Paneer(Cheese) is called Chhaman in Kashmiri. Paneer is simmered in tomato sauce, flavoured with spices and fennel seeds (cheese with Tomato gravy). Each tarami has one piece served by waza which is then equally distributed.
Breads
Kashmiris love to have baker’s bread for their breakfast and hence, every Kashmiri colony has one traditional bakery known as ‘Kaandar/ Kandur’. Kandurs can be found everywhere in the cities, every locality will have one atleast. In Kashmir, there is a bread for every season. Bread is an integral part of social customs too – engagements, weddings, birth. Long before dawn, hundreds of baker families (Kandurs) in the Valley fire up wood tandoors and start making bread. These breads go well with salty pink tea called Nun chai. There are many types of traditional breads like chot, katlam, kulcha, lavaas etc
Kashmiri Namkeen Kulcha
If you don’t have yeast at home and you want to make some Kashmiri bread, you should try this recipe for Kashmiri kulcha by Tasty Bitz. Made with maida, soda, and salt among other ingredients, the kulchas are easy to make.
Girda/Roti
This is amedium sized everyday bread. Everyone has it for breakfast with butter or jam. This is prepared by kandur in tandoor on a daily basis by putting his finger impressions and then places it in tandoor. It’s golden on the upper side and white from below. A Kashmiri’s day is incomplete without Roti.
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai
Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers. The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai. It is made with black tea, milk, salt and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda. The Kashmiri Hindus more commonly refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai."
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur (Kashmiri or bakers. It is one of the most basic and essential food items in a Kashmiri household.
Serving Wazwan
When dishes are finally prepared, the chefs also take personal responsibility of serving the dishes prepared by themselves.
Once the cooking is done, then preparations are made to serve. Frist of all the dastarkhawans are laid out in the dining area. Dastarkhawan is a long white sheet used as a sanitary surface and it increases the aura of the dining area. Firstly maid or waiter washing the hands of guest’s while they seated on Desterkhan. Hands are washed in a “Tash t Naer” in a royal manner. “Tash-t-Naer” is a hand-engraved copper vessel used for washing hands. The portable basin is carried out one by one passed around the guests
Traditionally, wazwan is eaten while sitting on Desterkhwan on the floor and it is eaten by hands without any cutlery
The Waza starts serving the first course in the “Treamis”. A traem. Wazwan is a three-course meal consists of an appetizer, main course, and dessert is served in a specific order. However,
Traditionally the guest coming to the banquets are seated in groups of four sharing a large metal plated called the Trami. Trami is a large copper platter; each trami is usually shared by four people. The curd and chutney are served separately in small earthen pots.
The first course or appetizer starts with rice and the few dishes are placed on top of the rice. Rice is served on the Trami and decorated with methi, kabab, tabak maaz, daen fhol, fried chicken, etc.
Minutes after the last traem is served, the wazas dressed in traditional white kameez shalwar make rounds, topping up the plates with more delicacies. Though the idea is to alternate between strong and mild flavour profiles, there is no hard and fast rule.
In the middle of the feast, the wazas arrive with vegetable-based dishes: the much loved large chunks of cheese cooked in thick tomato gravy, spinach and mushrooms or tiny chunks of boneless mutton.
In evolution
The food habits of the majority of the population of Kashmir are predominantly non-vegetarian. Wazwan is the ultimate name in Kashmiri banquet and is a formal meal prepared on special occasions such as Kashmiri weddings
From its lavish yet simple seven dishes, the wazwan has evolved to incorporate luxury and emphasis on the guests served. About thirty dishes are now being served during the mahraz saal, literally the feast for the groom, on the night the marriage is solemnized, said Khan.
At Last- The Good part
Kashmiri Wazwan isn’t only popular because of its taste rather it is because of the culture associated with it. It teaches equality, togetherness, love, sharing, and regard for others. Guests are not discriminated against on the basis of their religion or their social or financial status anyone can sit next to you and can be part of your Treami.

During the past 5,000 years of its history, Kashmir has been at the crossroads of various civilizations and religions. Kashmir has been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Central Asian, and Persian civilizations and cultures. Kashmir is said to have close cultural relations with present-day China, Tibet, Central Asian cities, Afghanistan, and Iran. All these factors have contributed immensely to the evolution and development of present-day Kashmir and Kashmiri culture.
Chinese Tang Dynasty (722 AD)
Mihirakula (502–530 CE)
Nilamata Purana (530–600 CE)
Mauryas and Kushanas (618 AD – 707 AD)
Utpala and the Lohara dynasties
Shah Mir dynasty (1350 – 1400)
Kashmir Sultanate (1300 – 1400)
Mughals (1500 – 1750)
Durrani Empire (1747 – 1819)
Sikh Rule (1819–1846)
Dogra Rule (1846–1847)
British Raj (1857–1947)
Since 1947 till today Kashmir is administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley) and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (United Nations Security Council Resolution 47)
The Sufi connect
This Islamic factor dictates Wazwan is the Sufi philosophy of nothing going to waste
At the time of cooking and serving one prominent Sufi to have greatly influenced not only the making of Wazwan but also established the khanqah, a diktat that regulated the consumption of bread during the day
History mentions of the food culture, especially around the 15th and 16th century in books such as Dastur-i-Salikin and Tuḥfat-ul-Aḥbab (written by Mulla Muhammad Ali Kashmiri)
Islam was not introduced in Kashmir just as a religion but more like a culture,”
Most dishes of the wazwan — like the kababs, roganjosh, korma, gohstab, etc — derive their names from Persian. Its introduction to Kashmir is also attributed to the influx of Muslim saints from Iran and central Asia who spread the teachings of Islam.
Culinary History
14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiuddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty, who brought skilled persons of various professions including cooks from Samarkand to Kashmir. These skilled cooks, called wazas in the local language, cooked meat into various dishes and classified them according to shape and gravies used for their preparation. The credit for popularizing wazwan dishes goes to Persian and Sanskrit immigrants. The term waazi is basically a Sanskrit term waja, which means to cook. The origin of the term has also been derived from a Persian word, ashpaaz, which means a special cook proficient in making soups, and with the passage of time the term became waza . The basic prerequisite of a wazwan is that freshly slaughtered meat is used for its preparation. After acquiring the meat, the waza sorts it out for the different types of dishes—for example, ribcage is used to make tabakhmaaz, whereas boneless meat is ground and is used for preparation of kabab, rista, and goshtaba. A number of dishes are prepared in wazwan; among them, the seven important meat-based dishes are kabab, tabakmaaz, aab gosh, rogan josh, nate-yakhni, rista, and goshtaba. Wazwan dishes are traditionally prepared in copper utensils (named degs in Kashmiri) over simmering fires of wood, preferably obtained from old fruit trees
For events — the Kashmiri nobles hire a ‘VastaWaaza’ (Head Chef) who is tasked to prepare anywhere from 25–35 dishes for arriving guests. Of course, this is no easy task so the VastaWaaza brings his team (Could be up to 10 Waza’s).
The Kashmiri people are so well versed with the WaazWaan that the chefs and hosts are under pressure to live up-to to extremely high standards, so the logistics, resources and manpower required to prepare fresh and high quality food often mean it is common for the chefs to start cooking at Midnight all the way through to the next evening when the dishes will finally be served.
The wazwan dishes are mild in taste but rich in flavor due to utilizing the blend of local spices and herbs such as Saffron, dry fruits, dry-cockscomb flower, dry-fenugreek leaves, dry ginger powder, fennel seeds, shallots, fresh ginger garlic, tamarind, Kashmiri red chillies, black and green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, coriander, mint leaves, and clarified butter. Most of the Wazwan dishes are red in color, the red color is obtained from Kashmiri Red Chilies. Saffron is a key ingredient of Kashmiri wazwan, which is used to enhance the flavor and make it taste more elegant. Known for its thick gravies, the Wazwan is not deeply fried, rather it is slowly cooked over a low flame for hours called Dumphut. It is cooked with a great deal of precision, culinary art, passion, hard work, and enormous love.
Many dishes are prepared in Wazwan, from which seven ethnic meat-based dishes are the most essential, these are the basic dishes of every celebration.
Yakhni
Yakhni is a popular mouth watering Kashmir dish. It is a yogurt based curry and is either made with lamb or lotus stems. It is prepared in curd along with spices and does not have turmeric or red chilli powder. Bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms and fennel seeds lend primary flavours to this curry. The difference between yakhni and Aab gosht is that Aab Gosht is made with milk instead of yogurt.
Kashmiri Methi
Underneath all these dishes, lies Methi. It is a sort of stew usually made with lamb stomach and flavored with methi or fenugreek leaves. Don’t be a baby. It’s really good. There are 4 small divisions of methi .
Nate-Yakhni
This product is made from meat chunks approximately 5–6 cm in size, precooked in boiling water for 20 minutes and are then separated from broth. Yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at high heat with vigorous stirring until boiling. While boiling salt, spices, condiments, ghee, and meat broth are mixed with the curd, and boiling continues until a desired consistency is obtained. For nate, precooked meat chunks are added to the yakhni and boiled further to obtain nate-yakhni
Methi Maaz
Methi maaz is a flavorful, delicious, and one-of-a-Kind dish. It is derived from the word “Methi”, which means “fenugreek” and “maaz” which means “meat”. This flavoured gravy is made up of lamb stomach and intestines, that is chopped into small pieces and cooked in dry Fenugreek leaves. The fenugreek leaves add an amazing fragrance and distinct flavour.
Kebab
The origin of kabab is credited to the medieval soldiers who used to grill meat on their swords in the open fire. Ethnically the meat used for kabab making is lamb, but over the years different types of meats such as beef and buffalo meat have been used as per local and regional taste. Kababs are made up of fleshy meat that is minced on stone with a tukni (a wooden hammer). Eggs are added along with spice blends while mincing. Then the minced meat is wrapped around an iron rod of 20–30 cm length for cooking. Traditionally, kababs are cooked by charbroiling, but nowadays they are also prepared by grilling, roasting, or stewing.
Charbroiled kababs have a typical smoky flavor because of the contact of the charcoal with meat, and have a brown appearance, more yield, and better juiciness and texture as compared to oven.
Tabak maaz
Tabak maaz is a popular product of wazwan made from the rib portion of sheep meat
The rib of lamb or mutton is cut into small pieces, moderately steam cooked, marinated in turmeric and yogurt with spices. The rib bones are then removed, and only the meat chunks are shallow fried in desi ghee over mild heat for a longer period. The finished product becomes crispy in nature and served as dry pieces.
Daniwal Korma
The word ‘dhaniwal’ refers to coriander in the local Kashmiri language. Dhaniwal Korma is mutton korma cooked in a lot of coriander or dhaniya and yogurt based gravy .
Aab Gosht
Aab gosht is a sacral area of the vertebral column prepared in milk.
Aab gosht is one of the most liked dishes of Kashmiri cuisine. It’s a simple dish as compared to other dishes in Wazwan, yet very delicious and mild. This milk-based meat curry is cooked with a sweet milk gravy without hot spices. For the preparation of aab gosh, lamb or mutton is boiled in water with salt, ginger, garlic paste, and aniseed powder. The milk is then boiled along with spices such as green cardamom, onions, pepper, and ghee, to which the lamb or mutton is added. The meat along with milk curry is then stirred thoroughly until it boils well.
When the meat is tender, white creamy milk is added and stirred around over a gentle heat until it cooks well.
Rogan josh
Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan, which means “oil or fat,” and josh, which means “intense heat.” Thus, roganjosh means made in oil at intense heat . Rogan josh is a red hot lamb or mutton meat product, and the word is a combination of rogan (which means red color) and josh (which means either passion or heat) . Kashmiri red chillies impart the color and make it mildly hot, but the red color of the dish is attributed to the extract from dried cockscomb flowers, locally known as mawual. The lamb or mutton meat is marinated for 2 hours and is cooked in oil with added spices until it becomes brown. After that, it is stirred in a cooking vessel to develop its characteristic flavor.
Mirchi Korma
Among the many curry dishes of Kashmiri cuisine, the royal korma has held a special place. Kashmiri Wazwan is incomplete without a Mirchi Korma. It is extremely spicy, deliciously spiced with lots of dried Kashmiri red chilies and ground spices. This fiery red hot curry is made with little pieces of meat, flavored with soaked red chilies, they need to be soaked in hot water then de-seeded and grinded into a smooth paste. Mirchi Korma is one of the best curry dishes, which gives a classic taste of red dried chilies, it is a delight for all mutton lovers. This dish has many health benefits, protects the heart, treats stomach upset, and helps cure cold, nasal congestion, and digestion.
Mirchi ka korma
Marchwangan means red chilly in kashmiri. This dish as spicy as it sounds. Mutton korma is cooked with fiery hot Kashmiri chillies and spices.
Gushtab Yakhni
Known as a “King of Kashmiri Dishes” Goshtaba is a popular meat product of like rista, it is prepared from pounded meat emulsion. The only difference is that goshtaba is cooked in gravy called yakhni made from curd, water, spices, and condiments
The specialty of this dish is that the meat is minced with fat to make it more delicious. The meatballs are pre-cooked in boiling water over a medium flame till most of the broth evaporates. The yakhni is prepared by homogenizing curd at the high flame with continuous stirring till it boils. While boiling essential ingredients (fennel seeds, cloves, green and black cardamoms, Cinnamon sticks) are added, once spices give aroma and flavor to the yakhni, the precooked meat dumplings are added and boiled further until the desired consistency is obtained. When done dried mint leaves are added. The dried mint leaves are prime flavor to the dish. The velvety and creamy textured meatballs are royal in taste which can lift up the spirits.
Rista
Rista is a restructured meat product of Kashmiri wazwan prepared from meat emulsion with added fat (20%), salt, cumin, and cardamom seeds . The emulsion is prepared from mutton or beef depending on local, ethnic, or regional taste. The emulsion is manually pounded along with fat using a specially designed wooden hammer called goshpare (gosh means meat and pare means hammer) over a stone platform called maz-kaane (maz means meat and kaene means stone), and spices, salt, and a small quantity of chilled water are added while it is being minced. The meat emulsion is then pressed by hands and rolled between palms into compact balls. The meatballs are then processed in gravy to get rista as the finished product. The gravy is made from water, red chili extract, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and a ground spice mixture and condiments.
Waza chamman
Paneer(Cheese) is called Chhaman in Kashmiri. Paneer is simmered in tomato sauce, flavoured with spices and fennel seeds (cheese with Tomato gravy). Each tarami has one piece served by waza which is then equally distributed.
Breads
Kashmiris love to have baker’s bread for their breakfast and hence, every Kashmiri colony has one traditional bakery known as ‘Kaandar/ Kandur’. Kandurs can be found everywhere in the cities, every locality will have one atleast. In Kashmir, there is a bread for every season. Bread is an integral part of social customs too – engagements, weddings, birth. Long before dawn, hundreds of baker families (Kandurs) in the Valley fire up wood tandoors and start making bread. These breads go well with salty pink tea called Nun chai. There are many types of traditional breads like chot, katlam, kulcha, lavaas etc
Kashmiri Namkeen Kulcha
If you don’t have yeast at home and you want to make some Kashmiri bread, you should try this recipe for Kashmiri kulcha by Tasty Bitz. Made with maida, soda, and salt among other ingredients, the kulchas are easy to make.
Girda/Roti
This is amedium sized everyday bread. Everyone has it for breakfast with butter or jam. This is prepared by kandur in tandoor on a daily basis by putting his finger impressions and then places it in tandoor. It’s golden on the upper side and white from below. A Kashmiri’s day is incomplete without Roti.
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai
Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers. The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai. It is made with black tea, milk, salt and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda. The Kashmiri Hindus more commonly refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai."
Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur (Kashmiri or bakers. It is one of the most basic and essential food items in a Kashmiri household.
Serving Wazwan
When dishes are finally prepared, the chefs also take personal responsibility of serving the dishes prepared by themselves.
Once the cooking is done, then preparations are made to serve. Frist of all the dastarkhawans are laid out in the dining area. Dastarkhawan is a long white sheet used as a sanitary surface and it increases the aura of the dining area. Firstly maid or waiter washing the hands of guest’s while they seated on Desterkhan. Hands are washed in a “Tash t Naer” in a royal manner. “Tash-t-Naer” is a hand-engraved copper vessel used for washing hands. The portable basin is carried out one by one passed around the guests
Traditionally, wazwan is eaten while sitting on Desterkhwan on the floor and it is eaten by hands without any cutlery
The Waza starts serving the first course in the “Treamis”. A traem. Wazwan is a three-course meal consists of an appetizer, main course, and dessert is served in a specific order. However,
Traditionally the guest coming to the banquets are seated in groups of four sharing a large metal plated called the Trami. Trami is a large copper platter; each trami is usually shared by four people. The curd and chutney are served separately in small earthen pots.
The first course or appetizer starts with rice and the few dishes are placed on top of the rice. Rice is served on the Trami and decorated with methi, kabab, tabak maaz, daen fhol, fried chicken, etc.
Minutes after the last traem is served, the wazas dressed in traditional white kameez shalwar make rounds, topping up the plates with more delicacies. Though the idea is to alternate between strong and mild flavour profiles, there is no hard and fast rule.
In the middle of the feast, the wazas arrive with vegetable-based dishes: the much loved large chunks of cheese cooked in thick tomato gravy, spinach and mushrooms or tiny chunks of boneless mutton.
In evolution
The food habits of the majority of the population of Kashmir are predominantly non-vegetarian. Wazwan is the ultimate name in Kashmiri banquet and is a formal meal prepared on special occasions such as Kashmiri weddings
From its lavish yet simple seven dishes, the wazwan has evolved to incorporate luxury and emphasis on the guests served. About thirty dishes are now being served during the mahraz saal, literally the feast for the groom, on the night the marriage is solemnized, said Khan.
At Last- The Good part
Kashmiri Wazwan isn’t only popular because of its taste rather it is because of the culture associated with it. It teaches equality, togetherness, love, sharing, and regard for others. Guests are not discriminated against on the basis of their religion or their social or financial status anyone can sit next to you and can be part of your Treami.

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