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Food fest: it's Kashmiri hospitality for you
Imtiyaz
Bakhshi
When
it comes to entertaining a guest, there is no better host
than a Kashmiri. No wonder, visits by friends, neighbours
and relatives form keystone of the closely-knit Kashmiri society.
Kashmiri
hospitality begins the moment guests knock at the door but
it takes hours of preparation to answer that first knock.
An
entire household gets down to preparation of a red carpet
treatment on the slightest hint of guests coming over. Occasions
can be as diverse as the arrival of a new-born, successful
completion of schooling, return of some elder from the Holy
Haj pilgrimage or the ward on the threshold of a job.
If
the guests arrive around noon, Kashmiri delicacies like Roganjosh,
Mirchi korma, kofta and yakhni are served one
after other on the dastarkhwan "interspiced"
with chutnis, curd and pickle. Lunch is served hot
and gobbled up in the midst of mouth-watering flavours, friendly
gossip, tales of Islam and the prevailing situation in the
Valley. The multi-course non-vegetarian package is digested
with the always trusted Kehwa or the Kashmiri black
tea.
However,
if the guests make it a point not to disturb the host with
lunch formalities, they coincide their visit forenoon or late
in the afternoon, carrying bakery and confectionery items
as the occasion demands. Shaheena Parvez, whose parents returned
from a trip to the USA and ``Umrah Sharief'' in Saudi Arab,
found it unable to stack the items. ``Cakes of all hues, coconut
cookies, pastries, kandi kulcha and krippe.
It was as if bakery outlets of the town Mughal Darbar, Jee
Enn Sons, Cake House and Jan Bakers had come home.'' Her sister,
Sabeeha Manzoor, was finding it equally tough to distribute
the highly perishable items among the neighbours and the elderly.
``We were wondering what name to give this new confectionery
shop,'' she joked.
However,
both of them left no stone unturned to defend the Kashmiri
tradition and warmth with which their guests had graced the
occasion. Their job entailed serving the visitors with Kehwa
prepared in Kong (saffron), topped with peeled almond
dressing. Hot Kehwa is followed up with Kashmiri Namkeen
chai (salt tea). The way the bakery items served with
Kehwa cannot be offered with nun chai, the cups also change
shape and size - tiny, shallow for Kehwa and bigger (often
mugs) for namkeen chai. Tea is poured from samovar
if the gathering is large but if it is small, thermos flask
comes handy. Lipton tea is kept ready for those not preferring
Kehwa or the salted tea.
"The
tensions and busy life of the city may bring about a faster
parting of the host but the hospitality in villages extends
to several days since the guests do not drop in for a day's
visit but days and weeks together,'' says Bashir Ahmad Bhat,
an office assistant hailing from Poshwan in Tral. He invariably
has to rush home from his office in Srinagar to attend to
his uncle or aunt's family staying put. ``New clothes have
to be stitched for women guests and their children. They have
to be dropped home even if they come from a far off village.''
Hospitality is returned as the male member accompanying the
entourage is not allowed to leave before an overnight stay.
Be
it a city guest or a family visit in the villages, the moment
of parting presents an emotional scene. The host side walks
the guests upto a distance and thanksgiving, long Kashmiri
pleasantries are exchanged at the gate as also promises to
return the visit ``soon, very soon''.
Kashmiri
hospitality at its best during marriages. Usually a three
to four-day affair, the festivities involve a long list of
Wazwaan delicacies prepared by waazas or professional
cooks. Dish after dish, which have taken the whole day to
prepare, arrive on the ``Truam'' (copper plate) meant for
four persons. The quantity of meat intake is such that it
takes days to set the digestive tract on course again. The
waazwan feast invariably entails lot of wastage but
Kashmiris never seem to learn any lessons. Waazwan
is sought after and the host is supposed to "invite all
and all have to attend''. Anybody not attending and adding
his bit to the wastage part invites social sanction.
"The
early phase of militancy had curtailed the number of waazwan
courses and many other expensive rituals that were beyond
the reach of a poor man, but Kashmiri tradition of guest entertaining
and hospitality proved incorrigible,'' says Bashir.
(Expressindia
welcomes suggestion and feedback from its readers on its endeavour
to reconstruct the fading charm of the Valley and to present
before them a slice of Kashmiri life beyond the booming guns.)
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