Lamb Chelo Kebab

Lamb Chelo Kebab

Thinking about Persian food brings to mind the dazzling sabzi khordan, array of kebabs, magnificent naans & pilafs and also the saffron, pistachios, rose petals & rose water, preserved limes and barberries. I grew up in a house where Persian was just as common a language as Urdu, Kashmiri and English. Persian poetry couplets were interspersed into everyday talking and it was just a normal way of having a conversation. The Persian influence in Kashmir is not limited to arts, architecture and language. It also has been a huge influence on the food in the valley of Kashmir. This could …

Lamb and Fresh Plum Tagine

The first time I cooked some green apples in a savory dish with aubergines, my husband looked at the dish with some trepidation. He is usually a sport and enjoys eating new things. But a cooked apple in a savory form was not something he had imagined. A chutney may be, but a whole main dish? It was his first introduction to Kashmiri Vegetarian food. He prefers vegetarian food. But this was him trusting me and taking a leap of faith and trying out something completely new. And he was hooked. It is a dish he now requests often. Cooking …

Kashmiri Kabargah – Fried Lamb Ribs

As I sit to write this post, I am feeling nostalgic. Kabargah is a dish that features in all our major celebrations and as we have established by now, all our celebrations begin and end with food as the main focus.  More than a couple of decades ago, when Kashmir was still the peaceful paradise, and I was still a child with a bright future and so much potential ( or so my parents thought), major celebrations in Kashmir were celebrated very traditionally.  I would look forward to these celebrations or ‘saal’ as we call them. Saal means an invitation …

Lamb Apricot Stew – Indian Inspired

This is not a chili. This is not even a dalcha. It is kind of somewhere in between. But is it good? Yes! For today’s 38 Power food’s blog group the star ingredient was apricots.So I first thought of making a Dalcha. Dalcha is a lamb and lentil stew to which a souring agent like tamarind or lemon is added. But the lentil of choice in the dalcha is Channa dal.  Since Channa Dal takes a long time to cook and simmering dalcha for a long time was not on the cards,  I decided to make a chili. But chili takes …

Brussels Sprouts and sprouted Moong Salad

  It’s Friday and we are on another episode of our 38 Power Foods Blog group. 38 Power Foods blog group  focuses on one ingredient each week taking inspiration from the book ; Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients from the editors of the whole living magazine. Each week we all  come up with recipes, stories, articles to encourage eating nourishing food. Who is we all ? The following wonderful people who make nourishing food and talk about it on their blogs. Do check what they have come up with this week. Also, If you are a blogger …

Neni Roganjosh

  The culinary world is divided into two categories – those who know an authentic kashmiri dish and those who do not. Over kill? May be! But hey! I am a Kashmiri. I am supposed to have a nose pointed high and I am supposed to be snobbish! It is something we master subconsciously. 😉 So when you go to a very fine looking, pricey Indian restaurant and order a Kashmiri roganjosh or a kashmiri naan or Heaven save you – a kashmiri dum aalo , chances are that you would be served a dish that has raisins, cashews, almonds …