Tourists flock to savour centuries-old flavours at Shimla's Kashmiri food festival

Tourists are flocking to the weeklong Kashmiri food festival at Hotel Holiday Home (HHH), organized by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

People thronged to witness the Kashmiri taste in Shimla at the Kashmiri food festival organised in association with the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC). Large numbers of tourists are coming to this over a weeklong festival of the Kashmir food taste which started on Friday in the Hotel Holiday Home (HHH) of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC).

"We started it on December 22 and will continue it till the 30th. We are getting a very good response from this festival here, and people are appreciating it. We are the Kashmiri Pandit chefs of thousands of years of Kashmiri cuisine. Our cuisine is not regular; it is Kashmiri Pandit Cuisine, which is thousands of thousand years old. We have a wide range of varieties, we have a pure magic of Kashmiri spices. We don't use onion and garlic. I am thankful to the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) who has given us an opportunity," Ashwani Sadhu, Chef and organizer of the Kashmiri food festival said.

The locals and tourists are rushing to this food festival ahead of the Christmas and New Year season."Yakni beans the lotus stem, we have also brought the nadru, the special saag has been airlifted here, we have Chaman and many other vegetarian dishes. Non-vegetarians have Rogan Josh and Yakni Gostaba and we have a special bread called Rot bread which is being served here. Tourists are coming in large numbers. People are coming again and again and are recommending it to others. We are promoting the very rich traditional food without changing the delicacy; we have also brought 100-year-old utensils here," Sadhu added.

The tourists are happy to be here to cherish the beauty of the Kashmiri Cuisine. "We have heard about it. I have tasted wazwan and it is authentic, the experience is perfect, and it is nicely cooked. Everybody must come here, the north Indians would like it the most and others would also like It," Kavita, a tourist from Delhi said. The tourists are enjoying the music along with the traditional food of Kashmir here in Shimla.

"We came three days back, and we had a very good experience of Kashmiri mutton. We tried other dishes too and we found them better than what we get in Delhi," Anil Khanna, a tourist from Delhi said. "I like Jagjit and Gulam Ali, we have listened to the music and Gazals. We are happy and carry hospitality with a message of integration. We will tell everyone to come to this place," he added. The locals and tourists were waiting for their turn to come for the food as the restaurant was full to its capacity on Saturday night.