Food Culture of Jammu : Introspection of My experience

Often, Jammu is discussed in context with pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi or a gateway to Kashmir. People don’t ‘travel’ to Jammu but it is like a pit stop. Thus, little is known about the main attractions of this city, forget about the food. Since I have the privilege of staying in Jammu for longer periods as it is my in law’s place, I can vouch for the extra-ordinary street food this Dogra stronghold has to offer.

Jammu is generally famous for its Rajma Chawal (Kidney beans curry with piping hot steamed rice). The kidney beans cultivated in the Bhaderwah region of Kashmir are supposed to be the best quality in the world. It is a no brainer that Rajma is an integral part of both Dogra and Kashmiri cuisine. There are various places across Jammu serving Rajma Chawal, but in my view, it is best served at home.

The original Dogra cuisine is actually very simple and is normally constituted of wheat, maize, pearl millet, rice and cereals and bears striking similarity with the Himachali cuisine (owing to sizeable Dogra population in HP). However, I could see a transformation in Jammu where the neighbouring Punjab has a lot of say, especially in the breakfast spread. The deep fried aloo tikkis, chole bhature are the preferred dishes now-a-days. Chowmein as the Chinese noodles are generally referred across North India is very much in vogue. Mahajan Namkeen and Sweets on Canal Road appears the first choice for people of Jammu

The street food of Jammu is probably the tastiest offering by this city for the gastronomical devouts. There is a sizeable spread to taste and should not cause any disappointment to the rookies also. ‘Kulcha’ is a very famous snack in Jammu which comes in various forms depending on the stuffing. So it could be aloo kulcha (potato), chole kulcha (chickpea), nutri kulcha (Soya Chunks). Kulcha (as in Jammu and other parts except Amritsar) is a round baker’s spread split open and warmed on flat pan, stuffed with chopped onions, tomatoes, green chutney (coriander and mint) along with the specific stuffing.

Kalari Kulcha in Making

The ‘King of The Jammu Street Food’ is the famous ‘Kalari Kulcha’. The stuffing is made from the awesome Kalari Cheese (known as Maish Krej in Kashmir) is an exclusive cheese available only in J&K and to quote once again ‘it beats mozzarella by miles’ and is a ‘die if you miss’ kind of dish. My favourite place is the guy who dishes out these Kulchas in Ladies Market in front of Taj Boutique in Kacchi Chavani area. There is another advantage to eat kulcha here that you get to see so many pretty faces. J

Kacchi Chavani area of Jammu is the den of street food. You get to taste everything from kulchas to tikkis to bhaturas to golgappas. You may also come across a unique item known as ‘Lachcha Kulfi’ here. The famous Malai Kulfi is served with noodles laced in rose syrup. It is a unique stuff but not out of the world, in my view. You can always resort to the safest option of lassi if you are not in a mood to experiment too much with your food.

Lachcha Kulfi

Along with the generic spread of snacks, Jammu offers something very unique. One of them is ‘Kachalu’. Kachalu are colocacia (arbi,arvi) corms sliced and diced and marinated with tangy spices. The texture of the bite is not smooth but slightly grainy and is probably similar to the ‘Garadu’ which is available in Indore at Sarafa Bazaar during winters.  Girdhari Kachaluwala in Kachchi Chaavani is supposed to dish wonderful kachalus and fruit chaats. ‘Masala Mooli’ is a delectable dish made of baby white radishes sprinkled with right amount of spices. Wonderful example of zingy and tangy combination!  

Arrival of Kashmiri Pandits in early 90’s have also added another dimension to Jammu’s food culture. Though generally restricted to Kashmiri people, the cuisine can be easily accessed by being guest in a kashmiri home or attending kashmiri wedding. Dum aloo, red and yellow paneer, tangy brinjals (chyok wangun), haakh (collard greens) and monje haakh (kohl rabi) are the recipes one must try. Kashmiris love to have baker’s bread for their breakfast and hence, every Kashmiri colony has one traditional bakery known as ‘Kaandar’. The traditional breads like gyevchot, katlam, tyel woru, kulcha (this is different) go wonderfully well with the sweet milky tea or the salty pink tea. And since I have mentioned about tea, the discussion would never be complete without mentioning my most favourite tea, Kahwa, the wonderfully aromatic clear green tea with bits of dry fruits.

Gyevchot Bread with Sweet Tea

As with most of the hilly areas in North India, momo is a very popular snack item here. Steamed momos are the packets of fine flour filled with grated vegetables (or chicken) and served with pungent chutney and steaming soup. It is a must experience on cold windy evening in Jammu, especially in the outskirts.

Jammu has few swanky restaurants like Falak in Raghunath Bazar area. But they actually don’t represent the food culture of Jammu. Jammu is rather epitomized by the bustling streets and the food available on these streets and in the homes on people in Jammu.  Jammu is also known as the City of Temples and hence, the religious factor has somehow augured well with the vegetarian quotient here. There are pockets in Jammu for non-veg  delicacies but I am not an authority on it. But the veg spread is droolicious. Bon appétit!

Jammu is well connected by road, railways and airways. Personal suggestion is to go by road or train, especially the long journeys.  Best time is to visit during winters i.e. November to February where the food can be enjoyed to fullest terms. Jammu has an array of hotels and lodging arrangement due to its importance as pilgrimage point as well as pit stop for Kashmir. Area around Raghunath Bazaar offers good accommodation at reasonable prices. 

This blog was published as a featured story on the website of The Alternative. Following is the link to the URL : http://thealternative.in/travel/the-gastronomic-traveller-jammus-north-indian-kashmiri-and-chinese-street-food/

Part 2 - The Street Food of Jammu - Gastronomical Gallis

The day of resurrection arrived. I had never planned for the feast I was about to experience that day but as the famous Grand Master Oogway from Kung FU Panda quotes, “One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it” Mine was not an exact situation but I felt like quoting that line here. J We had shifted our base temporarily to Amphalla for the wedding. Hence, I got ample time to explore the nearby area on my own and once again, I was sifting through the crowd and the busy streets of Parade and Kachhi Chavani. However, I seriously had no intentions to try the street food.

On the way, I met my better half and my sis-in-law who were there to get the henna designs on their hand. (Remember the ladies market). We decided to take a casual walk towards Pucca Danga. I don’t know if it was my destiny that we stumbled upon this guy called Suresh (or Prakash..normally the guys with these two names can cook very good food!) who was dishing out the ‘kulchas’ swiftly, bang opposite to ‘Taj Boutique’ in the ladies market.

My first encounter with Kulchas as I mentioned in the first part was not so good. There was a difference The guy I met earlier was a ‘Kulcha Seller’ and this guy looked like a ‘Kulcha Artist’. So I didn’t waste time and ordered a chole kulcha there. The same old combination – a warmed circular bread split open (kulcha), chopped onion, chopped tomato, the delicious green chutney of mint and coriander and lovely tasty stuffing of chickpeas. My first bite….mmmmmm….this is how kulcha should be made. The first flavor explosion I experienced in Jammu. With my next bite, I had already ordered another chole kulcha. Things start to flow and look amazingly seamless when you are ready to go.

After finishing off four chole kulchas, I spotted an interesting thing on the artist’s pan. A luscious, white stuff but still interestingly elastic. Those three discs getting heat treatment on the sides so that they can become deliciously brown. I wondered what it was and curiously asked. The answer was, “Kaladi” Eureka…..Ohhoy…Yay…I was face to face with the king of street foods of Jammu. I had seen the NDTV Good Times Show, Chakh Le India where the host Aditya Bal while wandering at Patnitop near Jammu caught hold of this amazing cheese.

Kalari is a traditional ripened cheese also known as Maish Krej in Kashmir and prepared from cow’s or goat’s milk. This is an exclusive cheese available in the hilly areas of JK and nowhere else. Extremely soft and yet dense and spellbindingly tasty! I have been mentioning it a lot on almost all my social media platforms that it beats the mozzarella cheese by miles. I really wish that Will Studd (the cheese expert and host of TLC Program ‘Cheese Slices’) must come here and talk about it. I never thought India could provide a contender in the elaborate list of variety of cheeses across the globe.

So, it was a no brainer that I asked for one ‘kalari kulcha’. Rest of the things remaining same, the stuffing is replaced by this lovely block of kalari cheese. And I can’t write about my experience. Don’t have words! I can swear by the kalari kulcha and can fight with anybody for its superiority over other street foods anywhere else in India. J

So actually, even after gorging 4 chole kulchas, the lovely smell and magical taste of kalari prompted me to finish off another kalari kulcha. All I wanted was to keep on eating them but I had a dinner to attend that evening. I promised Suresh that I would be there tomorrow to eat more kalari kulchas. With a beaming smile and a satisfied belly, I proceeded. The kalari kulchas had restored my confidence in the Jammu street food and I saw positively everywhere.

The next stop was a Gol Gappa vendor few meters away from the Kalari Kulcha vendor. The Pani Puris which are known as Gol Gappas in North India are slightly different in taste and I believe shape also. The Gol Gappas are more rotund capable of bearing more amount of the spiced concoction hence being more flavourful than its rest of India counterpart. No wonder I finished 20 Gol Gappas in one go (after eating 4 chole kulchas and 2 kalari kulchas). I was on rampage in the ladies market of Jammu. J

Momos on a cold evening are nothing less than bliss. A cousin of the Chinese dumplings, loved in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and the Hilly States of India. Made of fine flour with finely chopped veggies like cabbage, potato and for non-veggies, meat of course! I have always wondered it’s similarity to modaks in Maharashtra which are made in a similar way but with rice flour and sweet stuffing of coconut, jaggery  and other ingredients like poppy seeds. Interestingly, both the names also start with ‘Mo’. This I must say a healthier option since it is steamed and not fried and has no excessive usage of butter or cheese. Generally, it is served with hot soup to start with. We had the luxury of enjoying them on a cold evening of December when the temperature had dropped to 8 degree Celsius. I remember three of us finishing 120 momos on that evening. J

Since I have mentioned about healthier option, the discussion cannot be finished without the mention of ‘Kachalu’ and ‘Masala Mooli’. So kachalu are colocasia corms (and has got nothing to do with potato J) which are sliced and diced and marinated in spices. Colocasia in local dialect is also known as arbi, arvi, alu. Gujaratis can relate their ‘patra’ where the leaf is used to prepare the savoury dish and Maharashtrians also prepare ‘Alu Wadi’ in a slightly similar fashion. The garadu (yam chunks) available in Indore during the winter look similar to Jammu’s kachalu preparation but I am yet to taste garadu. So no comments!

Masala mooli (spiced radishes) is a simpler and yet a tasty and healthy option. A baby white radish is simply split open and doused with spices but to an optimal level so we don’t lose the actual spiciness of fresh radish.

I have concluded that Jammu’s food is all about the ethnic food. The swanky restaurants are no match for the street food. I had been to Falak, the revolving restaurant set atop the KC Residency in the Raghunath Bazaar. All I can say is the experience was terribly disappointing. Jaw dropping low service standards and zero value for money, I would advise people to stick to kachhi chavani and make most of it. J   Few other tips are – Lassi at Pehalwan di Hatti in Gandhi Nagar and freshly baked breads at any Kashmiri Bakery!

Surely, I had started my Jammu food exploration on a wrong note but what matters is the end. It was fabulous. I am slightly surprised that Kalari hasn’t got its fair share of popularity. Or may be things are expected to remain as they are and taste great! J I don’t know. But I know for sure that at least I have found multiple reasons to come back to Jammu. The street food is just awesome!