Culinary delights from Kashmir to the garrison city
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.