A street food market is set up around the Hazratbal Dargah every Friday, so make sure you plan accordingly. This market is set up outside the premises of the Dargah. It is located on the banks of river Dal.
A street food market is set up around the Hazratbal Dargah every Friday, so make sure you plan accordingly. This market is set up outside the premises of the Dargah. It is located on the banks of river Dal.
Vendors and Peddlers come here from far off places to sell things to the customers. There’s everything sold here from cosmetics to little colourful baby chickens. It is a delight of a market for foodies who want to see the Kashmiri culture and food preferences deeply.
We will look at the everyday food culture of Kashmiris!
Masale- Masale is boiled black beans sprinkled with salt and chilli powder. A spoonful of it is put in paper and given. It looks spicy but isn’t so much. It is like a dry snack you could enjoy at any time of the day.
Nadr Mounje- It is a lotus stem coated with white flour and fried. It is also called ‘Kamal Kakdi’. Very crispy!
Paratha and Halwa- A typical food around the dargah, It is a gigantic paratha made from wheat flour. No roller is used to expand the dough in a huge size, it is all done by hand! Then, some holes are made in the paratha to deep fry it. When taken out, it is as crispy as a wafer. If you have seen ‘Bhatura’ being made, it is somewhat similar to that but the size is more than four times the ‘bhatura’.
It is eaten with a semolina pudding called Halwa. So, the combination of pudding and crispy fried roti works out very well!
Kripe- You can try various types of bread in this street market. Kripe is one of them! It is a bow tie shaped crisp puffy bread topped with roasted sesame seeds. When you break it, it is going to give you that crunch sound. You can dip it in Noon Chai and enjoy!
Bakarkhani- This is another type of Kashmiri bread. It is even more layered and crisp. It has a louder crisp sound when you try to break it. It is made in Tandoor and there is no ghee added to it. This too you can have with tea!
Information- There are two types of Bakarkhani. One is made by the bakers which is bigger in size, the other one is made by Kandors which is smaller in size. Kandur is more like a traditional bakery, a social hub. Every colony has its own traditional bakery where its daily needs for bread are met.
Cow Butter- Have you ever seen butter being sold in the form of balls? Here, it happens this way! They sell homemade cow butter in the shape of big balls.
It does taste very fresh!
Kashmiri mixed pickle- Kashmiri mixed pickle is mouth numbing. It has chopped carrots, chopped mangoes, oil , salt etc in it.
Busrakh and Khande Gaazar- These are sweet snacks made from flour and sugar, usually pale white and pink in colour.
They look like solid thick stems kept intact.
Lal Shangram- It is made with roasted semolina and sweetened flour. It is shaped into balls and served. Because it is very fragile, it can also crumble very soon.
Shangram- This one is different from the previous one. It is not a crumbly snack and in fact, has very well defined boundaries and looks smooth. It is basically sweetened dough, deep fried. Also, it is not very sweet in taste.
A very simple snack, it is very popular among Kashmiri kids. They love it!
A light walk into the streets can reveal clusters about how the city breathes in its values, accents, tastes etc. Remember, FRIDAY is the time you can visit this market. Schedule accordingly.
