Harissa: Why Kashmir eats this centuries-old winter delicacy and how it is made

Harissa preparation involves a laborious process. (Photo via X)

In order to remain warm during the minus temperature the people in Kashmir Valley have been eating sizzling hot harissa, a slow-cooked dish of minced lamb for breakfast for centuries.

Years before harissa, luxurious winter breakfast was prepared and sold in Srinagar’s downtown only but now the delicacy, quintessential part of people of Kashmir in winter is easily available in every town of Kashmir.

Harissa, a mouth-watering traditional delicacy is sold and eaten at the crack of dawn and people after offering morning prayers (Fajr) directly go to harissa shop, locally known as harissa-wan and enjoy the hot dish usually eaten with a Kashmiri bread called “Kander Tchot”.

In the ongoing bone chilling cold of “Chilla-i-Kalan”, the 40-day harshest winter period  people leave their homes at 6 am because most harissa shops run out of the famous delicacy by 8 am.

According to Srinagar based Chef Yaseen, harissa is not just a culinary delight but an emotion which connects people in the early morning at harissa shop, a meeting point.

“The traditional mutton curry contains a good amount of protein which keeps people warm all day, even in below-freezing temperatures. The people, mostly elderly after finishing congregational morning prayers, assemble in harissa shops and get themselves warm with the heat generated from Tandoor, an underground earthen pot. While people enjoy harissa they also gossip around religion, politics and current affairs.”

He adds that people in small groups amid bone chilling cold, jostle through dense fog in wee hours and swarm around harissa shops.

The main ingredient of harissa, the textural dish is sheep or goat meat, cooked with rice, the staple food of people of Kashmir and flavoured with spices — fennel seeds, cinnamon cardamom and garlic. Some even add saffron into harissa to make its appearance somehow different and is known as “Zaffrani Harissa”.

Harissa, meticulously cooked overnight in clay pots over ancient wooden fire ovens until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone, the stew-like curry is further mashed. It Is finally adorned with Kebab and Methi Maaz (lamb intestines chopped and cooked with dried fenugreek) from the traditional Kashmiri cuisine with smoking mustard oil poured over.

Zahoor Ahmad, who has been involved in the family business of selling harissa, a culinary treasure in Kashmir, in the Aali Kadal area of Srinagar for generations says that harissa is one of the most celebrated cuisines of Kashmir Valley and people relish the delicacy for nearly five months in a year.

Every morning in winter a long queue of people wait to get harissa from Ahmad’s shop, witnessing increased sales. The business hours begin at his shop before the first light of dawn and the kitchen closes within a span of a few hours.

“Preparing harissa is an uphill task because its preparation involves laborious process. We start our day at 1 pm in the afternoon and harissa gets ready at 3.30 am in the night due to which I do not sleep at night. This shop is more than 200 years old. My father Ghulam Muhammad Bhat and grandfather used to run it before me. I have devoted my life to this art, which brings me cheer and satisfaction. While I have earned a lot, seeing a satisfied customer relishing the dish gives me even more contentment,” 48-year-old Ahmad who makes and sells Harissa for the past 27 years tells Moneycontrol.

A kilogram of harissa costs Rs 1200 but due to heavy demand a number of Harissa lovers including tourists return with empty hands.

However, some online food startups have lately started to deliver harissa throughout the day. While many women food entrepreneurs these days make harissa from the home and sell it to the customers anytime during the day. “Harissa can be prepared at home but at the cost of some compromises. Compared to traditional Harissa prepared from centuries old shops in Srinagar’s downtown the taste somehow varies and the atmosphere and ambience one can enjoy in traditional shops is incomparable,” says Kashmir's first food vlogger Tasiya Tariq who runs Kashmir Food Fusion YouTube channel.

Yaseen says that one can deeply enjoy harissa if the weather is snowy and the ambience inside the shop becomes even better.

Over the years the popularity of harissa has gone to an extent that fathers are now sending the traditional delicacy to the newlywed daughters while some send harissa as a special gift to loved ones.

Srinagar based dietician Asma Jan tells Moneycontrol that the nutritional value of harissa lies in its protein content from meat, carbohydrates from rice and vitamins and minerals from a variety of added spices. “Roughly if we take 750 grams of harissa, it will give us almost 1100 kcal, 50-60 g carbohydrates, protein 198 g, fat 27g, cholesterol 547 mg. Harissa is also rich in potassium, sodium and saturated fats. Garlic, shallot, saffron, cumin, cardamom, etc., increase antioxidants, vitamins and minerals in Harissa. The spices boost metabolism, improves immunity, helps in proper digestion, improves lung function, and heart health. Therefore, harissa taken in moderate quantities once, twice or thrice in a month is good for health,” says Jan.

Zareef Ahmad Zareef, a Kashmiri poet and historian renowned for his satire and humour traces roots of harissa to 14th century with the arrival of central Asian traders and Sufi saints including Mir Sayed Ali Hamdani to Kashmir. “The roots of harissa in Kashmir can be traced back to ancient Central Asia, influencing the region’s art, jewellery, customs, rituals, beliefs, and gastronomic culture. The traders who mostly came from Iran prepared and consumed harissa to get the extra calories they need to fight the bitter winter cold. The people in Kashmir were deeply impressed with the food and lifestyle of central Asian traders due to which the harissa was also relished by locals and introduced in Kashmir.”

Zareef, 82, who has an authority on Kashmir’s cultural history tells Moneycontrol that the first harissa shop came into existence in Aali Kadal area of Srinagar and accordingly Saraf Kadal, Saraibala, Fateh Kadal, Safa Kadal and Naid Kadal became other top harissa destinations.