HYDERABAD: Winter might be over in the City of Pearls but to get a whiff of dishes savoured in Valley of Kashmir, while it is still getting fresh snow is not so difficult. Taj Krishna is hosting a Kashmiri Food Festival at its restaurant, Firdaus. A celebration of delectable delights from the valley in traditional that this food festival chef Tariq Waza from Taj Vivanta, Srinagar has been especially flown for the food festival. It’s not just ordinary Kashmiri Food Festival, it’s wazawan, the traditional sumptuous gourmet affair at the weddings of Kashmir where the spread is kept lavish and tonnes of lamb meat are used for the long celebrations. At least 30-35 dishes are prepared for the guests.
A classic restaurant that Firdaus is, the mood was set when two ghazal singers dressed in sherwani were singing evergreen verses. The upholstery added to the charm. First food item to be served on our plate were appetisers nadru malai tikki which were escalopes prepared with lotus stems and cottage cheese. We expected it to melt in the mouth, but it was a bit chewy. There was chicken kanti, home cooked styled chicken chunks preparation. As accompaniment there was walnut chutney quite popular in Kashmiri dining rooms. On the other hand tabak maaz, yogurt simmered lamb ribs fried till they get crunchy, was nicely done; the meat was succulent and the spices rightly balanced. Before the main course was served yakhni shorba, a meat preparation in soup form with herbs from the valley.
The main course began with rishta, mutton roghan josh, goshtaba, rajma gogje and nadir yakhni. Haak was another dish of locally grown leafy greens from Kashmir with red chillies. The clear soup like consistency gives you feel it’s more an item of shorba. Rishta is a dish of pounded lamb meat dumplings in a bright red curry seasoned with choicest Kashmiri condiments. Goshtaba is almost similar but is prepared with curd and dry mint and hence has a tangy taste. Rajma gogje is a Jammu dish which was cooked deliciously along with chunks of turnip. Nadir yakhni was a preparation of lotus stems in white gravy of yogurt. If you are a regular eater of lotus stems then you might like it. The most famous dish of Kashmir is of course roghan josh, a lamb meat preparation the dishes were served with Kashmiri pulao, rice preparation with nuts, saffron and slivers of fresh apples. Chef Waza told us, “We use small goats weighing not more than 10-12 kg. We first clean the meat and boil it in big pots with water mixed with salt and garlic pods. The stock is later used for different meat preparations and this meat in huge amount is used as per the requirement.” On the table there was an arrangement of velvety maroon flowers. Pointing to them the chef said, “These are known as Maval. Because of their red colour we use them for different curry preparations. It’s very goof for the digestive system as well.”
For dessert we had badami phirni which was a mildly sweetened rice pudding cooked with almond powder and saffron.
Another dessert was Kesari Halwa: a semolina dish with nuts and saffron.
At the end of the dinner was served golden coloured kahwa infused with slivers of dry fruits and saffron pleasant aroma. The only thing that disappointed us was that it was served in China cups and not served through samovar as is the tradition in Kashmir.
The festival will be on till February 27.
Price: Approx Rs 3,000 plus taxes.
Details: 040 6666 2323