Kashmiri Wazwan food festival in Guchhi, Hyatt Regency

Kashmiri cuisine is something, which is extremely rare to get, not only in Kolkata, but throughout India. So, when I got invited to the Kashmiri food festival at Guchhi, the specialty Indian restaurant at Hyatt Regency Kolkata, I was pretty excited. The festival is there at Guchhi, Hyatt Regency Kolkata over dinner till 15th August 2017

Now, Kashmiri food is something not very similar to the typical north Indian/ Mughlai food, which is heavily laden with ghee and rich in taste. Simple ingredients are used here mostly and with a huge variety of meat cuts. Rice is the staple item here along with meat. Beef is rarely used, while lamb is the most popular one. Option for vegetarians are slightly restricted (though sufficient mouth-watering varieties are there), whereas the non-vegetarians will have the time of their life.

During the festival, dishes are available on a la carte basis and I was kinda taken aback. If a lonely should like me (LOL) comes in, it’ll not be viable to sample everything or even a portion of it…. But, I was promptly assured that a wazwan set meal is available in both veg and non-veg variant, so that makes more sense.

However, of the items we’ve tried, the mutton sheikh kebab was fantastic. It had just the right amount of juiciness and crunchiness and was tossed or rather rolled in the Indian brown gravy, which had made the difference. The gushtaba was quite good, but was slightly different from whatever I’ve tasted during my visits in Kashmir and Ladakh valley.  The Tabak Maaz (fried mutton ribs) was pretty tasty though.

Regarding the rice items, mutton pulao can hardly go wrong and here also, it was another showstopper along with the Guchhi Pulao. Now, Guchhi is one variety of mushroom and guchhi pulao is one of the signature dishes in the restaurant (even named after the ingredient). The slightly earthy smell gelled nicely with the fragrant rice and the result was great. The kashmiri Aloo Dum and Rajma, paired with the dry-fruit laden kashmiri naan is definitely suggested for the vegetarians.

For dessert, there were Sufta (a heavily dry fruit laden fig dessert) and though pretty heavy in nature, it’s definitely recommended.

Overall, the experience is great and something not to be missed in the city of joy. Cost for a couple ….. INR 5000 appr.

Bon apetit !!!

Comments and critics welcome.

I can be reached at 9903528225 / indrajit.lahiri@ymail.com