Authentic wazwan a great draw in a year that has seen the highest ever number of tourists visit Kashmir

SRINAGAR

Wazwan, the elaborate meal with 10 mutton dishes, has emerged as the most loved flavour of the tourist season in the Kashmir Valley this year, which saw the highest ever tourist footfall of over two million.  

Bhavyesh Moopan, a motorcyclist from Kerala, drove all the way to Srinagar to relish an authentic wazwan this month. Mr. Moopan, along with 14 of his friends from south India, got past a labyrinth of narrow alleys in Srinagar’s old city to reach Wazpora, the oldest colony of traditional cooks called waza.

“We enjoyed the food, especially kebab and tabakh maaz (ribs cooked in ghee on slow burning firewood on a wide copper plate). It was an experience to see the sequence of dishes laid before us. We were supposed to consume all the dishes in one go. It was a challenge too!” Mr. Moopan, an engineer by profession, said.

Wazpora, like many parts of the old city, remained out of bounds for tourists for many years as it turned into a site for pitched battles between local youths and security forces, especially after Friday prayers. The historic Jamia Masjid is situated close to the area. But Wazpora’s tag of being a hub for militancy is waning now. Curious visitors are now putting Wazpora on the tourist map for the first time.

Only mutton from lamb and sheep are used in a wazwan, which is typically relished by four people squatting on the four sides of a trami, a large, wide copper plate.

The famous J.J. Foods is known to serve such a traditional wazwan. “I started a wazwan takeaway during the COVID pandemic as an experiment. With local and tourist footfalls increasing, Wazpora is home to nine such eateries now. My restaurant can serve wazwan to 23 people simultaneously. Tourists really like the  wazwan dishes,” Umar Qadir, a software engineer and owner of J.J. Foods, said. 

Mr. Qadir’s ancestors were wazas. “The new generation is switching to other professions given the respect shown towards us in the society,” he rued. However, wazwan eateries are turning this perception around. “In the months of May and June, tourists visited us on a daily basis. A tourist from Goa recently sent his relative to get wazwan packed from JJ Foods. Many tourists had fed their GPS (global positioning system) our label to have food here. We are being recommended by tourists to others. That’s the appeal of the wazwan now,” Mr. Qadir said.