A wazwan is a ceremonial Kashmiri feast that traditionally has 36 courses.
Of those 36 courses seven are permanent and should always be included.
The seven permanent dishes are
1. Marchwangan Korma. A spicy chilli hot lamb dish
2. Rista. Meatballs in a fiery red hot sauce
3. Tabak Maaz. Lamb ribs simmered in yoghurt before being fried
4. Daniwal Korma. A mutton curry heavy on coriander (Cilantro) leaf
5. Aab Gosht. Lamb or mutton cooked in a milky gravy with black pepper
6. Roghan Josh. A very tender lamb dish cooked with Kashmiri spices including Maval, or cockscomb flowers
7. Gushtaba. Meatballs in a yoghurt gravy
My next project, following on from next week’s Curryfest, is to have another, focusing on a traditional wazwan. We have to consider that we have family and friends who are vegetarian, pescatarian or who generally avoid red meat, so I will have to explore the traditional wazwan menu to find other dishes to serve to replace a few of the Super Seven.
The other consideration is to go with the traditional Hindu or Muslim dishes. Whilst the Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu, they eat plenty of meat but avoid onions and garlic (wow that terrifies me). They do use asafoetida and fennel though.
The Muslim variant openly welcomes onions and garlic and seems to be up my street. I may have to cook each of the religious variants or two of every dish during the trial period to see what best suits.
This is going to be a labour of love and whilst I am on annual leave over the next week I will try at least two. I have a recipe for a Pandit Marchwangan Korma which is definitely on the cards, though it will be made with goat as opposed to lamb. A milder dish like Gushtaba or Aab Gosht would be more enjoyable for Mrs T63.
I reckon I may be all curried out by the end of the week.