Rice, which could be imported from other countries in times of famine.Patañjali's Mahabhashya reveals that rice was already being cultivated in the valley c.150 BC. Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin diverted the waters of the Dal Lake into the Mar canal which he extended up to Shadipur where it emptied itself at the confluence of Jhelum and Indus. Owing to these irrigation works, and reclamation of large areas for cultivation, Kashmir became self-sufficient in rice production. The natives considered the hot water at Dewsur sacred, and said that when one wished to know if any undertaking will prosper, they must take an earthen vessel, fill it with rice, and having secured the mouth, so that water may be excluded, throw it into the holy font. If on coming up the rice was boiled, it was deemed a fortunate omen, but unpropitious if otherwise.
Pilau, yellow pilau, black pilau, shola pilau etc.
Bikabatta, a dish consisting of rice, goat's fat and water.
Rice mixed with sugar and sugarcane.
Bread, it was not custom to eat naan/tsoet until the early 17th century.
Milk, of cows and probably of buffaloes was consumed.
Butter.
Strawberries, which could vie with the best in England.
Yellow raspberries.
Musk-Melons, by the permission of Akbar, the crop was imported from Kashmir in the later season.
Guavas, of Kashmir were considered to be 'middling' by Jahangir.
Peaches, ripened in July.
Other diverse fruits, (apple, crabapple, pear, peach, apricot, cherry, mulberry, melon, water melon, greengage, gooseberry, currants, raspberry, sour cherry).
Diverse vegetables, (red beet, water parsnips, radishes)
Rhubarb (pambahak), grew on the mountains surrounding Kashmir. Both Hindus and Muslims were fond of the stalks.
Turnips, The turnips (gogjee) of Haripur were said to be the best in the valley.
Carrots. The carrots (gazar) were eaten by the Muslim inhabitants but not by the Hindus.
New potatoes.
Leeks. Leeks (gaudapraan) were not eaten by the Hindus of the valley.
Artichokes.
Asparagus, in great stalks.
Lettuce.
Tomatoes, scarlet in colour.
Dimb. A vegetable found only in the Dal and Anchar lakes in Kashmir.
Kashmiri butcher (c.1900)Raw Flesh, there was an animal sacrifice in connection with the marriage ceremony.
Ram. Meat (mesa) was generally fried and sometimes highly spiced. The mutton of Nandipur was said to be the finest of Kashmir.
Meat cooked in yoghurt.
Ducks
Pigeons.
Beef, Kashmiri mystic Nund Reshi or Sheikh Noor ud-Din Wali expressed his disdain for a preacher who ate beef (moshi) and then complained it was the ogre's greed in one of his shruks. Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Zain-ul-Abidin had banned cow slaughter in the state in deference to the religious sentiment of his Hindu subjects.
Horse meat, was taken with relish in Kashmir.
Pork, domestic pigs (gramya sukara) were eaten in Kashmir without any adverse notice in the 11th century AD. The fragmentary jaw of a pig was found at the trial excavations at Burzahom.
Poultry, the valley of Lolab was famous for the best quality of poultry. The practice of capon was known to the Kashmiris.
Chicken Soup (shurba literally meaning saltish water, ba is the reverse of aab meaning water).
Other edible birds.
Dog's flesh, cooked by people of Dom origin.
Handu sheep, delicate and sweet in flavour and wholesome.
Stags, chased down the Wular lake.
Caul fat, oblations of animal fat were offered in the sacrificial fire in place of ghee (clarified butter) in other parts of India.
Carp, mentioned in the Samaya Matrika of Ksemendra.
Fish Soup, eaten to keep up aphrodisiacal vigour by men addicted to women.A 1930 image of a Kashmiri woman from the Times of India series. Kashmiri women are perceived to have fair white complexion and bright milk and saffron cheeks, often painted as objects of desire by European travellers.
Trout
Danube Salmon.
Fowls (kukkuta). A favourite dish of the Kashmiris was to cook fowl and aubergines together.
Honey.
Boiled Eggs, the eggs were brought from Gilgit and Little Tibet (Ladakh) where they were procured in greater abundance.
Pircham, an omelette-like preparation.
Masura, a sort of lentil.
Samudga, moong dal. Feeding only on rice and samudga was known to be miserly.
Other Pulses (including Peas and Broad Beans).
Parpata or papara, modern papad. Another kind of food made from pulses.
Ksira (kheer), rice boiled in milk.
Machhama, a dish eaten by the Kashmiris consisting of rice, vegetables, raisins, colouring matter and sugar.
Walnuts, which were eaten during famine as shali rice became dear.
Pistachios.
Sugar-cane., the country around Martand was planted with the crop.
Grapes, grown only in Kashmir in India, according to Hiuen Tsang and which were rare even in Heaven, according to Kalhana. The Persian writer Abul Fazl considered them to be in plenty, but the finer qualities were rare. Walter R. Lawrence praised the white and red grapes of the state vineyard at Raipur. Of the foreign varieties, husaini and fakhri varieties were from Khorasan, supposed to be the best in Persia.
Unripe grapes (kur), the Kashmiris made excellent vinegar of it.
Garlic, several Brahmanas who used to eat it were expelled, according to Kalhana. Both garlic and onion were considered as aphrodisiacs in ancient Kashmir.
Pomegranates, already in abundance in the late part of the 19th century.
Holy Basil.
Salt, a precious article and according to Ksemendra, consumed by the rich alone. Two varieties were found in the bazaars of Kashmir: rock salt from the Punjab, and powder salt, called bota nun from Ladakh.
Kong (saffron from Kashmir), GI tag.Saffron, historians suggest Persian saffron corms were transplanted to Kashmiri soil after Persia conquered Kashmir. The first harvest occurred sometime prior to 500 BC. Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller in his Travels in India (631 AD) says that saffron flowers were long used to adorn the neck of oxen at the autumn festival in the country of Kashmir. Reference has been made of Kashmiri saffron in the Ratnavali of Harsha. Buddhist tradition claims Mādhyandina, a disciple or companion of the Buddha's disciple Ānanda, introduced the saffron crocus in Kashmir. Kashmiri poet Bilhana in his Vikramanka Charitam says that the cultivation of saffron flowers in Kashmir originated from Takshaka Naga, a holy spring. A popular myth talks about how when a naga chieftain (a water god) fell sick with an eye complaint, he was cured by the vaidya of Padmapur (Pampore). In gratitude, the naga gave him a bulb of saffron and thus the locals began the cultivation. Ksemendra mentioned that traders used to earn a lot through trade in saffron, in his 11th century satire Samayamatrka. In the Kaula tradition, a ceremony was performed with saffron for warriors. The Persian historian Firishta (1612) mentions that the saffron of Kashmir was particularly good. At the time of Jehangir (1605–27), the annual crop was 18.5 tonnes, more than anywhere in the world.
Clarified Butter, lamps were prepared with ghee. It was sold by itinerant sellers who went from door to door.Mustard fields at Doodhpathri. Mustard oil has been a very important part of Kashmiri cooking since it replaced walnut oil.
Oil. Wooden oil presses constructed more than 200 years ago have been operating in Kashmir. Till the mid-1940s there were sixteen oil mills operating in Srinagar. Large quantities of dried apricots called Bote Chire were imported to Kashmir from Ladakh in the bygone days, and oil was pressed from their kernels at Kashmiri oil presses. The rapeseed oil was considered best for eating while walnut and almond oil were also used. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the cultivation of mustard plants grew considerably in Kashmir, and the use of walnut oil fell considerably.
Gold Dust.
Curd.
Half ripe Barley.
Bread (apupa) and cake (pistaka) made from barley. A particular day of the year was observed as a festival, when barely became ripe in the fields.
Verinag Water Spring.Spring Water, of Kokar Nag was said to appease hunger and renew appetite. A fountain in the neighbourhood of Achh Bal was scarcely equalled for its coldness, limpidity and refreshing qualities.
Tea, came to Kashmir by caravans across Chinese Tartary and Tibet.
Beer. For Kashmiri polymath Abhinavagupta, alcohol was the external essence of Shiva. Without alcohol, there was neither enjoyment nor liberation. The use of drink is admitted during the sautramani sacrifice of the brahmans, during a great battle in case of warriors, during farming in case of peasants, at great family celebrations, at the birth of a son, on the occasion of marriage or gathering of friends, and at the conclusion of the cremation ritual in case of slaves. For his commentator Jayaratha, the practitioner should drink because of a sort of bhairavic greatness, but not like a bonded animal, because of greed. The finest drink is on every occasion, the drink of average value is at the junctures, the worst is only once a month, and beyond a month he becomes a bonded animal. Hops, too, grew in Kashmir and factories were close by in which raw produce was transferred into excellent liquids.
Wheat Beer.
Mead.
Rum, from treacle.
Wine, called mas in Kashmiri language. Kashmir was the only part of India where wine was made from the juice of the grape, a fact to be attributed rather to its acescent quality, than to any scarcity of fruit. A wine culture inflected by Hellenism thrived in Kashmir in the early centuries AD. At the beaded ring of a statue of goddess Lakshmi in a distinctively Gandharan style discovered by Frenchman Albert Foucher near the village of Brar in Bandipora in 1896, one can see clusters and foliage of vines.In the Mulasarvastivada vinaya, a Buddhist text from the first half of the 2nd century AD, some monks travel in the Northwest and a yakṣa presents them with some grapes, which are said to be from Kashmir and apparently a great novelty. The Buddha explains that they can be eaten after purifying them with a burning ember, and that people can also make juice/syrup from them. For Abhinavagupta, alcohol which came from grape was splendour to a supreme degree. He praised the wine of his native Kashmir as mahabhairava (the mercurial essence). Jayaratha cautions against mixing it with any other ingredient, for the reason that its effectiveness would be quite limited. Lalitaditya was so intoxicated with wine he told his ministers that if they wished to increase the beauty of his city, they should burn Pravarapura, the city built by king Sri Pravarasena of the Alchon Huns and his orders could not be disobeyed.There are many references which show that making and drinking wine was not prohibited during the early Sultanate period even though it was strongly disapproved of by the orthodox section of the society. It was a common sight to see laymen and Brahman priests alike in a state of drunkenness during Hindu festivals. Despite the Islamic ban on alcohol, the Muslims, who participated in these festivals, also freely partook of wine. Zainul Abidin took it in moderation, but Haider Shah was a confirmed drunkard. Sikandar Butshikan, or the destroyer of idols (c.1416) prohibited vending wine in Kashmir. The indigenous vines were generally planted at the foot of poplar and ran up to the height of fifty or sixty feet, bearing an abundance of fruit. After harvesting grapes in October, they were kept in shallow earthen vessels till spring, then they were applied to the fabrication of wine, vinegar and brandy. In 1815, the early wine writer André Jullien compared Kashmiri wine to madeira. Maharaja Ranbir Singh introduced vines from Bordeaux in France and Marion Doughty, a woman who visited Kashmir in 1900 wrote that the Medoc and Barsac were both strengthening and pleasant to taste.Anguri and qandi were the cherished drinks of singers.
Maireya Wine, a spicy wine perfumed by camphor, and made out of fruits and flowers with a natural sugar base.
Asava Wine, decocted extracts or cold infusion extracts of different herbs fermented with flowers of dhataki (woodfordia fruticosa).
New Wine. The Hindus pressed the juice of the grape, strained it, placed it in the sun for four or five days and then drank it.
Sweet wine, like Madeira. It would be found to improve greatly in quality with age.
Fruit wine (madapan), made out of pears, apples or mulberry.
Brandy, distilled from wine.
Vinegar, Kashmiris made various pickles with it, the best of which was garlic, according to Jehangir.
Flour cakes, fine flour could become expensive.
Spirit from Grapes, liquor (mrdvika) was drunk with incantation and blessing.
Spirit from Datura (Thorn-Apple).
Sesame Oil was extracted from it
Ginger., Jonaraja compares his words (as meagre) to water in dried ginger.
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