Shufta

To a food enthusiast, the identity of the Kashmiri Wazwan platter is through the region’s spicy aromatic meat delicacies in the likes of Yakhni, Rogan Josh, and Gushtaba. But the culinary palette of Kashmir also hides a sweet treasure that is exquisitely vibrant and rich, both literally and figuratively. The Shufta is Kashmir’s dessert of choice, made from a unique blend of the land’s exotic dry fruits, valued at millions in the global market, ghee (clarified butter), sugar and paneer (cottage cheese). To make an authentic bowl of Shufta, soaked dry fruits and saffron strands are added to a pan laden with ghee, fried paneer cubes and caramelised sugar. The royal dessert is sprinkled with dried rose petals that add a sweet fragrance to an already overwhelming mix of the land’s finest tasting produce. The Shufta is the traditional accompaniment of the Yakhni in Kashmiri Wazwan and for an ideal preparation, requires meticulous control over the pan’s heat to ensure the sugar is not burnt and the paneer cubes are not overcooked.

Locally dubbed as the ‘rich man’s dessert’, the Shufta can be made a little more exorbitant by adding the Kanaguchhi or Kashmiri Morel mushrooms, a rare hilly variant, believed to be a miraculous immunotherapeutic condiment. The Shufta Kanaguchhi, as the dish is called, is a vivid representation of the land’s insurmountable natural bounty and fine-tuned agroclimatic ambience.

While the origin of the dish cannot be dated to a particular era or culture in history, as is true for the traditional Wazwan dishes, the Shufta is a product of Kashmir’s socio-political history that has left an indelible mark on its culture and cuisine. Ever since the arrival of Timur Lane, Kashmir, at the cross-roads of ancient east-west trade, has witnessed the most noticeable influence of Afghani and Persian cuisines, further popularised by the elaborate Mughal dynasties of the medieval period. In fact, the Shufta bears a certain degree of similarity to the Iranian delicacy Ajeel, a mix of dry fruits and nuts, hinting at a shared Persian origin.