Before you read this, let me warn you: the Kashmiri dish gushtaba is not for the weak-willed or the faint of heart.

It is made from pulverised beef with 25 percent fat that is pounded into a pulpy mass and seasoned before being shaped into meatballs. It is then immersed in a seasoned hot water bath, before being placed in a bubbling-hot broth of well-churned yoghurt, laced with milk and some beef stock and cooked to a semi-thick consistency. It is finally finished off with boiling hot oil, salt and crushed black pepper.

Gushtaba is commonly eaten with naan (flatbread) though some like to have it with rice too. This is a winter treat, most commonly had by locals during the extremely cold Kashmiri winter months. But at Pakistan Hotel, situated in a narrow lane of Madina Market in Muzaffarabad, it can be had all year round.

Pakistan Hotel offers a wide variety of appetising Kashmiri cuisine, but none as famous as their prize-winning gushtaba, which is renowned far and wide. The original recipe calls for very fatty buffalo meat, which can pose quite a challenge for the unprepared palette, caught quite off-guard. A single serving of gushtaba at Pakistan Hotel consists of two meatballs served with white gravy, and costs about 350 rupees.

Gushtaba and kulchay are two popular Kashmiri treats which can be had year round

Pakistan Hotel was established sometime in 1970 by Haji Ilam Din Lala, who eventually handed it over to Haji Zaman. Now his son Qaisar runs the establishment and serves a mouth-watering array of local cuisine besides some awami hot favourites. The gushtaba is still made from an original family recipe.

Kashmiri Kulchay

Situated just a stone’s throw away from Pakistan Hotel in Muzaffarabad is the renowned Kulcha House which opened up for business some 30-35 years ago. Gul Sher Khan and Bashir Khan are the owners, who serve up an assortment of both savoury and sweet kulchay for as low as 10 , 20 and 30 rupees each, depending on varying sizes.

Kashmiri kulchay are vastly different from the kulchay you get at naan shops everywhere in Lahore. Not only do they look different — they look more like scones — but they taste very different too and are much smaller in size, with the savoury ones usually devoured with different kinds of tea and the sweet ones had, well, just by themselves.

All-purpose flour, eggs, ghee and baking soda go into the making of these delicious Kashmiri kulchay, which are brushed with beaten eggs before baking, which gives them their perfect trademark yellowish-golden look. Once you’ve had them, you just can’t stop at one.

The writer is a member of staff.
X: @faisal_quraishi

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 22nd, 2023