Uttarakhand Garhhwali Cuisine – I

About Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand, a state in northern India crossed by the Himalayas, is known for its Hindu pilgrimage sites. Rishikesh, a major center for yoga study, was made famous by the Beatles’ 1968 visit. The city hosts the evening Ganga Aarti, a spiritual gathering on the sacred Ganges River. (From Google)

Garhhwali Cuisine – “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”

India is a land with varied colorful culture and each and every state has it’s own cuisine too. Uttarakhand has their own delicious unique Garhhwali cuisine. Most of the people don’t know about this cuisine, but this cuisine has a whole lot of delicacies that will satiate the hidden hunger in you. Also it has a unique aroma in it. And one of the specialty is in this cuisine is most of the time they cook over the burning wood or charcoal.

Let’s have a look at the delicious Uttarakhand foods hidden in this hills and land of natural beauty.

Kandalee Ka Saag

Kandalee Ka Saag is a very healthy and delicious dish from Uttarakhand. It is a green leafy vegetable prepared in an ordinary way like all the other vegetables, but the leafy vegetable called “Bicchu Ghas” is what makes it different. Main ingredients are Paneer and Bicchu Ghas.

Jhangora Ki Kheer

Jhangora Ki Kheer is variety of Kheer from Uttarakhand. Jhangora is the main ingredient in this sweet dessert . Jhangora or Barnyard Millet grown in Himalyan state in Uttarakhand. The lip smacking kheer can be made with, millets, raisins, milk, sugar, kewra essence and nuts. 

Kumaoni Raita

Prepared from curd, turmeric, grated cucumber, green chillies and the mustard seeds. The taste of pungent mustard lingers long on your tongue; whereas the goodness of curd and cucumber becomes an asset for your digestion system. Adding more taste to the raita is the coriander garnishing.

Arsa

A sweet delicacy prepared from Rice and Jaggery & cooked in mustard oil, generally served on the occasion of marriages and festivals. The flavour is so prominent that once eaten, you wouldn’t forget the taste for long.

Use this link to watch how to make Arsa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THXUjMZLEic

Kafuli

Made from spinach and fenugreek leafs and cooked in an iron kadhai, kafuli is complimented by hot steaming rice. Just 4 ingredientts- Boiled Spinach, finely chopped and cooked with spice and curd, thickened with rice paste. The taste is further enhanced by slow fire cooking.

Kichmoli

Kachmoli also known as Kachwai, Kachpak and Sanna. This is a unique snack in this region. Most of the time this dish make as a bar snack. And smokiness and chewiness are the uniqueness in this dish. This will make by using fresh mutton. The smokiness which comes because the entire meat is roasted over fire and then skin is taken out and cut into small pieces. Then it will mix in, raw mustard oil, red chilli powder, salt and fresh coriander leaves or pahadi lun (everyone will not use) mixture.

The robust flavours of fresh ingredients, mustard oil along with smokey aroma and chewness of the skin are the sign of perfectly made Kachmoli.

Bhuna Mutton Curry

Bhuna Mutton curry also a unique mouthwatering mutton dish in Uttarakhand. This is a curry dish with smoky flavor.

Entire meat is first roasted on top of fire which gives the outer skin a smoky flavor and afer that the meat is slow cooked along with the skin attached to the meet.Tender meet with freshly made paste of ingredients on the sil batta (batan and una) gives a robust flavor t the curry. This preparation is sure way to get your taste buds tingling. Cooking anything in bhaddu which is a vessel having heavy botton and narrow neck upwards made of mix alloy (copper and bronze) gives a distinct flavor to the food plus use of freshly grown local ingredients and fresh water of mountain also play a vital role in this curry.

This curry will be a bit spicy, so that it can produce heat in the body which helps locals to stay safe from cold weather in the hills.

Chef Bhadri