RAWALPINDI: Kashmiri food has been popular in the garrison city, especially since the arrival of Kashmiri migrants into the city, with the Tabaq Maz and aab gosht among the more favourite dishes in the winters.

Tabaq Maz is golden brown lamb ribs garnished with silver leaf and lemon juice while aab gosht is a white mutton curry.

To make Tabaq Maz, goat or lamb ribs are boiled with various spices including turmeric powder, ginger and aniseed. The meat is boiled in a mix of water and milk and then deep fried in ghee.

Mutton is boiled in milk and some spices and garnished with a dusting of black peppers to make aab gosht.

A few restaurants in the city offer Kashmiris cuisine, among which the Dilbar Hotel in the lanes of Purana Qila is best known and has been serving Kashmiri food since partition.

“Mutton is used in almost all Kashmiri dishes, from haleem to aab gosht, and also in pulse and vegetable based dishes. The Kashmiris eat more meat compared to other regions of the sub-continent,” said Malik Aslam, owner of the Dilbar hotel.

He said Tabaq Maz is a special dish and is mostly served at weddings and other special occasions.

He explained that tabaq means highest part of the animal and maz means meat in Kashmir.

“The meat and milk combine to give a unique taste. You will not find red chillies in the dish, which is spiced with black pepper,” he said.

He said the name for aab gosht is misleading as mutton is cooked in three parts milk and one part water.

“It is like a stew. Almost all the other cuisines in the country require the use of tomatoes in the majority of its dishes, but Kashmiris use milk and curd to make the curry think and slow it on low heat,” he said.

Mr Aslam said he serves the dish with a kulcha at the restaurant, though people also prefer having it with boiled rice.

“The people of Kashmir have boiled rice with their meat along with various nuts, including walnuts, peanuts, almonds and pistachios. However, the locals may not be used to the taste of Kashmiri pulao as they like spicy biryanis from Punjab or Sindh better and the Kashmiri pulao does not have many spices,” he said.

“Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid is a regular visitor and he likes both dishes. Maulana Fazlur Rehman came to the Taleemul Quran seminary a few months ago and he was served aab gosht, which he likes most,” Mr Awan said, who has also cooked for the prime minister during his last tenure in 1999.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif used to love the Kashmiri food I made him, even when he was in London in 2008. But he does not eat much,” he said.

A resident of Purana Qila, Abdul Hameed said he prefers aab gosht to various chicken soups as the dish includes meat and milk, which are healthier ingredients.

“The aab gosht is best had on cold winter nights, and is usually served in my house on the weekends. It is difficult to make at home, which is why I get it from a restaurant,” he said.

Bored of having sri paya and nulli nihari Sunday mornings, a resident of Satellite Town’s D-Block Khurram Butt says he has now switched to aab gosht with a kulcha.

“The restaurants are now making nihari and sri paya more spicy and it is becoming more difficult for me to eat, and Kashmiri cuisine is healthier, which is why I have switched over to Kashmiri foods,” he said.

Imran Ahmed had brought his family to the Dilbar Hotel and said they had started with the Tabaz Maz.

“The ribs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside,” he said.

Published in Dawn January 2nd, 2017