Just half-a-kilometre away from the 14th century shrine of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani — a Muslim saint from Central Asia who preached Islam in Kashmir — Khan Rafiq Waza, 57, is milling about at his residence in a narrow bylane of Fateh Kadal in the old city of Srinagar.
Khan is busy gauging the flight of flames emerging from the vierie, the local name for a 15-foot log stove set up meticulously on the ground for cooking the famous wazwan, an array of dishes prepared for centuries for banquets and weddings in Kashmir. The clan of wazas, a word in Kashmiri for cooks, has mastered the art of wazwan and passed it on through generations since the 15th century.
Khan Rafiq Waza prepares food for ‘wazwan’ from his home kitchen in Srinagar’s Fateh Kadal area. | Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad
“Only an expert can control the flames from the vierie to suit the dishes being prepared for the wazwan. While kebab requires slow cooking on coals, rista [meatballs] requires controlled flames to thicken its gravy. We exert pressure on a deg, a deep copper utensil with a narrow mouth used for cooking the dishes, and control the flames. It’s an art, which one cannot learn in a day or a year,” says Khan, who can oversee 20 degs at a go, tasting dish after dish on his flattened palm.
Khan’s forefathers, according to family legend, were among the craftsmen who travelled with saint Hamadani from Central Asia to Kashmir in the 14th century. “This profession means more than cooking to us. It has a spiritual aspect to it,” he says.
The Waza clan popularised wazwan not only in Kashmir but beyond. Khan is now teaching the art to his son and a number of his associates from the old city.
“While kebab requires slow cooking on coals, rista (meatballs) requires controlled flames to thicken its gravy”Khan Rafiq Waza
peerzada.ashiq@thehindu.co.in
