15/12/2022
Harissa Kashmir's winter cuisine
During the winter months, a dish is prepared in Srinagar that represents both life and ritual throughout the Kashmir valley. A few dozen Harissa shops, mostly in downtown Srinagar, begin a routine that will last until March. A rice gruel is made in a large earthen pot, preferably with short-grained, sticky Kashmiri rice. Whole sheep legs (though goat meat produces the best Harissa), fennel seeds, cinnamon, green and black cardamom, cloves, crispy fried Kashmiri shallots, and salt are added to this. The narrow-necked earthen pot is covered with a lid after about an hour and a half of cooking. This is when Harissa-makers catch a few zzz's. They awaken around 4 a.m. (the cooking begins between 10 and 11 p.m.). With a metallic ‘hand’ fitted to
