Jammu: Famed mouth-watering delicacies from Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh regions including ‘Nadur Kebab’, ‘Haakh’, ‘Phaymer’ and ‘Kahwa’ were served at a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu for her Swiss counterpart Guy Parmelin.
Each course of the curated dinner, served for Parmelin and his wife Caroline Parmelin at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Monday, celebrated the distinctive ingredients of the two regions.
“Among them, sea buckthorn, apricot, wild nettle, yak cheese and barley from the high plateaus of Ladakh. From the Kashmir Valley come saffron, morels, lotus stem and fragrant spices and from the kitchens of Jammu come unique sweets and street-food traditions,” read the menu.
The menu for the evening drew inspiration from the culinary traditions of the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a land of snow-covered peaks and verdant valleys.
“Like the Swiss Alps, the Himalayan ranges have fostered a cuisine of resourcefulness, refinement, and respect for seasonal produce,” it said.
Among the menu were ‘Za Thuk’ soup — a nourishing Ladakhi wild nettle soup with winter peas, garnished with roasted millet pearls — served with assorted breads, ‘Labo-Na Tsonma’ salad (showcasing the region’s cheese-making traditions: Labo and Chhurpi from Ladakh, Kalari from Jammu; dried apple, walnuts, wild capers, lettuce with a dressing of sea buckthorn and honey) with ‘Crackers and Apricot Jam/Tangthur’.
In appetizers, guests relished ‘Kimb Chaat’ ( a street food delicacy from Jammu: boiled taro root, sweet potatoes and rice flour crispies, with sweetened yogurt, tamarind sauce and starfruit) and ‘Nadur Kebab with Dooyn Chetin’ (lotus stem patties seasoned with aromatic Kashmiri spices with walnut chutney) among others.
Dignitaries were served the main course, which included famed ‘haakh’ (seasoned collard greens stewed with mustard oil and asafoetida), ‘Dum Oluv’ (potatoes cooked with yoghurt, dry ginger, fennel and other aromatic spices) and ‘Kana Gucch Pulao’ (fragrant pulao with Kashmiri morels and whole spices) with ‘Mujj Chatin’ (white radish with freshly churned yogurt) and ‘Sheermal and Katlam Breads’.
‘Shufta’ (a blend of stewed dry dates, cashew nuts, raisins and coconut, garnished with poppy seeds) and ‘Phaymer’ (a Ladakhi dessert of roasted barley, jaggery and butter, served with Chura soft cheese) were in the dessert, according to the menu.
Guests enjoyed ‘Kahwa’ (Kashmiri tea flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, saffron), ‘Gur Gur Chai’ (traditional butter tea from Ladakh) and ‘Wild Rose Tea’ at the banquet.
In her banquet speech, President Murmu said there are greater opportunities for expanding bilateral trade and investment between India and Switzerland following the implementation of the historic India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
Welcoming the Swiss president to India, she said Switzerland is an important trade and investment partner for India.
India and Switzerland on Monday signed a migration and mobility partnership pact, decided to expand Swiss market access for Indian exports and agreed to further deepen cooperation in nuclear energy and defence domains following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parmelin.
Parmelin started his three-day trip to India on Monday. This is his first State visit to the country and his second visit this year, having previously attended the AI Impact Summit in February.
