True to the F&B understanding, ‘First dish is all that it takes to win a customer’, ‘Wazwan’ made a reluctant diner eat non-stop and return with a changed perception. The fest dispelled the notion that Indian food is all about greasy curries and spices. We wanted to give Wazwan, an ongoing Kashmiri fest at Ohri’s Tansen, a try to see how it is different from a Kashmiri food festival hosted by a popular five-star chain earlier.
Ditching the beer and the mocktails for Kahwa was a good idea. But it was not the Kahwa that sent us back home happy but the food served in due course of time.
For starters, there was succulent, generous-sized lamb ribs on mini hand-held coal
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For vegetarians there is
Hard crusted but soft inside, one of the buttery and slightly sweet bread was Bakarkhani. . And this bread goes well with the Aab Gosht ( Dahi Yakhni ) or Miirchwagan Korma — a traditional Kashmiri lamb curry in typical Wazwaan style. Yogurt lovers will love the goasthaba (also called the ‘King of dishes’) made with hand-pounded meat cooked in creamy milk and yogurt gravy. Next try the taftan. A tightly-layered bread soft which soaks in the gravy like a sponge from the kokur korma. The taftan is a slice of ‘jannat’ on the table.
The Kashmiri rajma is a must have here with the pulao. A speciality of the region, these tiny rajma beans are cooked in light tomato gravy and coloured with Kashmiri mirchi powder. If that sounds a little too hot, there is kahwa waiting for you at the table. And yes, Kashmiri pulao is not cooked with pineapple nor should look like a sweeter version of the lemon rice. Nuts are added to the pulao to only get a sweet feel when the nut is bitten, otherwise the pulao is not sweet. The non-veg version might not be loved by diehard biryani fans as it is absolutely dry, non-spicy and non-greasy. The festival is on till January 27 for lunch and dinner.
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