My father’s best friend was a Kashmiri, and from him I had heard tales of Kashmiri hospitality, but I only experienced it after befriending a Kashmiri girl myself. I remember so well the mehek (aroma), the wazwan (explanation given below), the love and the laughter.
Lizzie Collingham in her book Curry, Tale of Cooks and Conquerors says: “One of the Mughals’ favourite destinations during the hot summer was the mountainous province of Kashmir. There they escaped from the unrelenting heat of the plains in enchanting lakeside gardens, and the presence of the Mughals encouraged a blossoming of Kashmiri cuisine.”
Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia and Africa: An Encyclopedia edited by Andrea L. Stanton says: “Even though some foods have been made since antiquity, many features of the modern subcontinental cuisine developed in the middle ages. Mughlai cuisine developed during the period when Central Asian conquerors introduced saffron, nuts and sealed-pot cooking. The Mughals were heavily influenced by the Persians, and introduced many features of the Persian culture to the subcontinent. Mughlai food is usually served as an elaborate buffet including dishes such as [Kashmiri murgh], pulao, kebabs and roghan josh.”
How a chilli pepper cultivated in Karnataka lends crimson hues and delicate flavours to traditional Kashmiri food
I recently happened to read up on the delectable Marchwangan Korma, while researching for foods and their origins, and it was interesting to read how the crimson hues of the Kashmiri mirch play a role in this lamb/murgh recipe. Needless to say that many subcontinental spicy and savoury dishes are made using red chillies, where green chilli, black pepper powder or ginger may also be a part of the ingredients, but the Kashmiri lal mirch is the signature ingredient of Kashmiri dishes, used more for the colour than spice content.
Kashmiri mirch is vibrant in colour, much like paprika, and also mild in heat; however, it has a particular flavour, different from the conventional spicy red chilli powder, or Szechuan. Kashmiri lal mirch is cultivated in Karnataka, India, and is used to add crimson colour hues to chicken and roghan josh dishes.