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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
03/03/2026
Thinking of Kashmiri food might bring up mouth-watering visuals of rogan josh and Kashmiri dum aloo. But the region’s cuisine goes far beyond these well-known dishes. From the royal Wazwan preparations to simpler home-cooked meals, Kashmiri food offers tender fall-off-the-bone meats, fragrant yoghurts, smoky grilled delicacies, and simple yet flavourful vegetable dishes. Each bite tells a story of Kashmir’s history, from the lotus root from its vast lakes to lamb curries and more.
At the heart of Kashmiri food culture is the concept of Wazwan, which is why perhaps rich dishes like mutton and lamb curries get spotlighted often. But beyond these, the everyday meals in Kashmiri homes deserve equal appreciation, from simple yoghurt-based curries to those with the colourful Kashmiri red chillies and barbeque! These everyday dishes highlight the region’s use of fresh, local ingredients from leafy greens like haak, lotus stems, and tender paneer or chaman prepared with techniques that bring out their natural flavours. Kashmiri cuisine is known to balance indulgence and simplicity, and even the humblest dishes are crafted with care, tradition, and a deep respect for flavour.
This dish consists of uber-soft meatballs that are marble-sized and melt in the mouth, made of minced mutton and cooked in a yoghurt-based gravy. This dish is traditionally served as the last meat course in a Wazwan feast. The preparation for goshtaba demands skill, from mincing the mutton to a paste consistency by pounding with wooden mallets to shaping the meatballs, which are then cooked in gravy with spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and fennel. Goshtaba’s cousin is the Kashmiri rista, which differs in the cooking technique and ingredients. Rista uses Kashmiri chillies for a fiery red curry, whilst goshtaba cooks in white gravy owing to the yoghurt.
Harissa is a slow-cooked winter staple in the Kashmir valley, which is essentially a mutton curry, paired with Kashmiri bread tchot. Preparation for harissa starts the previous night, with either lamb or mutton pieces cooked with short-grained rice and aromatic spices like fennel seeds, cinnamon and cardamom, in large copper vessels. Traditional harissa is stirred continuously with a large wooden spoon called a maethi, and the tender meat is mashed further. This is perhaps the only dish that can nudge out any local from the comfort of their warm homes in the morning.
Every state has their special recipes for preparing leafy greens or saag, and Kashmiris call theirs haak. Haak is a staple leafy green vegetable dish, specifically collard greens (Brassica oleracea), that are cooked with minimal spices and in mustard oil. This simple dish appears at every Kashmiri table. Haak is typically seasoned only with asafoetida, dried red chillies, and sometimes a bit of turmeric. It is cooked such that the greens are tender but not mushy. This green dish is considered comfort food in Kashmiri households and is usually eaten with steamed rice.
If you haven’t heard of Kashmiri street food, then meet the seekh tujji, which is barbeque of skewered meat. It’s made by marinating minced or cubed meat, traditionally lamb, mutton or chicken in a blend of spices and grilling it on skewers over charcoal or open flame, which gives it a smoky, tender texture. The marinade often includes Kashmiri red chilli and other regional spices that help the meat absorb flavour before it’s threaded onto skewers and cooked. Seekh Tujj is typically sold by street vendors in places like Khayam Chowk in Srinagar, and is commonly served hot with lavasa (a thin Kashmiri flatbread) and a variety of chutneys or dips.
This dish is said to be part of royal Kashmiri cuisine, consisting of tender lamb ribs that are first boiled with spices and then shallow-fried until crispy. The name comes from the cooking vessel (tabak) traditionally used to fry the ribs. What’s special about tabak maaz is the two-stage cooking process. First, ribs are boiled with milk, cardamom, bay leaves, and other spices until tender. Then they're coated in yoghurt and shallow-fried in ghee or oil for the exterior to become crispy while the inside stays soft. Tabak Maaz is a popular dish in Kashmiri Wazwan and is often served as a side dish.
There are a handful of paneer or chaman (with a differing texture) curries made by the Kashmiris, perhaps the most famous being the chaman qaliya. There’s also chaman qorma, methi chaman and tamatar chaman. Chaman qaliya features paneer cooked in a turmeric-based gravy, which dyes the curry yellow. The gravy uses yoghurt, turmeric, and fennel, which are its primary flavours with no onions or garlic in traditional recipes. Chaman qorma, on the other hand, is a richer preparation with paneer cooked in a thicker, spiced yoghurt gravy. The dish uses whole spices like cardamom and cinnamon, with the paneer absorbing the flavours during cooking.
This dish is extra special because it uses nadru (lotus stem), which is a local Kashmiri delicacy. Nadru is quite popular in the northern region of Kashmir, valued not just for its taste but also for its many health benefits. It is used in everything from nadru pakoras and curries to nadru kebabs, and is a speciality of the Kashmiri Pandit community. As for the curry bit, particularly nadru yakhni, there are many variations, but usually it's made with lotus roots and cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cooked in ghee along with aniseed, ginger, curd, and salt.
These dishes represent Kashmiri cuisine's depth and diversity, and the best of this cuisine lies in the right combination of spices, vegetables and meat. Some are absolutely luxurious, eaten to warm the body during harsh winters, and some are mild and comforting, all shaped by local culture. Understanding these dishes provides insight into Kashmir's rich cultural heritage and the communities that preserve these recipes across generations.
