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Hokh Syun – The Sun-Dried Vegetables of Kashmir

Kashmir valley has a very unique distinction – it is a cup-shaped valley to a very large extent, with huge mountain ranges cutting it off from the plains. To the southwest is the Pir Panjal Range and to the northeast, is the mighty Himalayas. Technically, it is defined as an ‘intermontane’ valley, 135 km long, 32 km wide, and drained by the River Jhelum (original name – Vitasta). For ages, the approach to the valley was through areas that are now in Pakistan. The Mogul Kings would come to Kashmir quite often but via what is known as the Old Mogul Road (via Buffliaz in Poonch & Shopian in Kashmir) and link often to Lahore/ Rawalpindi. The road cuts across the mighty Pir Panjal Range (altitude 13000-14000 ft) at Peer-ki-Gali pass (11500 ft) and would be closed for the 6-8 months of winter!

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Kashmir valley is seen from a satellite. Snow-capped peaks of the Pir Panjal Range (left in the image; southwest in compass) and the Himalayas (right in the image; northeast in compass) flank the valley.

Long winter months, naturally, posed a survival challenge to the mostly agrarian economy of Kashmir. The snow would start right from October and sometimes extend well into April or even May. With fields under several feet of snow, there was little chance of cultivating fresh vegetables or even catching fresh fish in the cold weather. So how would the people survive? A very ingenious method of sun-drying vegetables during summer and consuming dehydrated vegetables in winter evolved in Kashmir!

Vegetables appear to have been cultivated in Kashmir since time immemorial, as mentioned in the historical treatise the ‘Nilmata Puran’ (6th or 7th Century AD), Ksemendra’s Narma Mala (11th or 12th Century AD). The mention of vegetable cultivation, irrigation, and manuring have also been made in Rajatarangini written by Pandit Kalahana (12th Century AD). God has blessed Kashmir valley with fertile soil and plenty of water – lakes, rivers, streams, springs – you name it! As a result, during summer, there would be an abundance of vegetables, particularly green, leafy ones! The staples would be:

  1. Haakh saag - Collards Green/ Kale
  2. Monj - Knol- Khol (Brassica oleracea)
  3. Gogje - Turnip (Shaljam)
  4. Zeeth Aal - Bottle Gourd (Louki)
  5. Wangun - Egg Plant/ Brinjal/ Baingan
  6. Nadru - Lotus Root/ Stem (Kamal Kakdi)
  7. Palak - Spinach
  8. Tsochal - Mallow Leaves
  9. Tamater - Tomato (called ruwangan by Kashmiri Muslims)
  10. Mujj - Radish (White & Red variety - Long as well as Round shaped), Mooli
  11. Gazer - Carrot (Red & Purple), Gajar
  12. Gol Aal - Pumpkin, Kaddu
  13. Torel - Ridged Gourd (Tori or Torai)
  14. Nuner - Portulaca oleraca, Purslane,
  15. Aubuj - Rumex nepalensis/ sorrel (Gongura?)
  16. Razmah Hyembe - Green Beans
  17. Wouste Haakh - Atriplex hortensis
  18. Lisseh - Amaranthus caudatus, Red Amaranth
  19. Bhum - Watercress(?). It was also used as cattle feed!
  20. Hyedar - Wild Mushrooms
  21. Choke Ladur - Pleuropetropyrum polystachyum Bell-shaped knotweed, Kashmir plume
  22. Kangetch - Morchella (True Morels), Guchhi
  23. Hand - Taraxacum officinalis Dandelion Greens. Still used as a female tonic in post-partum conditions.
  24. Methi - Fenugreek Leaves
  25. Mawal - Cockscomb. Often used as coloring agent!
  26. Bamchoonth - Quince
  27. Phool Gobi - Cauliflower
  28. Band Gobi - Cabbage
  29. Mattar - Peas
  30. Laer - Cucumber
  31. Thoole Rajma - Cranberry Beans/ Pinto Beans
  32. Woppal Haakh - Dipsacus inermis; Fuller’s Teasel
  33. Karele – Bitter gourd
  34. Marchewangan - Green chilies. Kashmir has a very nice variety, long, thick, and not so bitter. Those would be a regular part of day-to-day cooking. These would also be sun-dried in every household - and then ground to make dry powder for culinary use. This particular variety was commercially dried/ ground to get the world-famous Kashmiri Mirchi Powder, which gives a beautiful color to dishes.
  35. Kretcz - Centuria ibbilaris, Knapweed
  36. Wan Palakh - Goose foot
  37. Kral Mound - Capsella-bursa pastoris, Shepherds purse
  38. Praan - Shallots
  39. Gor - Water-chestnut
  40. Pumb haak - Indian Rhubarb (Rheum webbiana)
  41. What kram - Silene vulgaris bladder campion/ maidens’ tears
  42. Drub haak - Polygonum aviculare , prostrate knotweed, bird weed, pigweed
  43. Kalveuth - Prunella valgaris, Selfheal, carpenters herb
  44. Nag Babber - Nasturtum officinalis, Watercress
  45. Jangli Pran - Allium victoralis, Alpine Leek, Victory onion
  46. Van Wangun - Podophylum hexandrum, Indian Podophyllum, (hindi- ban kakri)
  47. Kaw Dach - Berberis lyceum, Indian lyceum, Indian barberry, or boxthorn barberry
  48. Gule - Plantago lanceolate, English plantain, rib leaf, lamb's tongue, buckhorn.
  49. Dade - Aspelenium sp., spleenworts
  50. Prezdar - Eremurus himalicus, foxtail lilies, or desert candles
  51. SERI-CHENNA - Vicia tenuiflora
  52. CHHANSH - Rubus ellipticus
  53. TEIAGH - Pyrus pashia
  54. TRINBAL - Ficus auriculata
  55. DRILLI - Ranunculus lactus

Specialties:

  • Sabez Badam: Green Almonds. This is a Kashmir specialty – young green almonds would be cooked with cottage cheese(paneer) or maybe using milk/ curd and Woste hakh(Atriplex hortensis)
  • Aal Kanej + Al Posh: Fried Stem & flower of the Bottle gourd plant – poor man’s delicacy.
  • Gordoul: Green sour plum. It was relished particularly by women. Cooked with Leesa (Red Amaranth) or the ubiquitous potatoes.

In addition, some fruits/vegetables were used for either cooking or for making chutney:

  • Aalitche Chatny: A sour variant of Cherries – bright purplish/ deep red in color. Chutney mixed with rice (Kashmiri staple), gave it a brilliant, bright color! Women loved it!
  • Doony Chatny: Another typical Kashmiri innovation. Walnuts, both green as well as dried variants were used for preparing chutney with some green chili, red chili powder, and curd.
  • Koch Aaer: Raw Plums, cooked with wangun (Eggplant) or potatoes.
  • Mujj Chatny: Probably unique to Kashmir – grated Mooli (White radish) mixed with curd and diced green chilies. A must for any feast, particularly amongst Kashmiri Pandits.
  • Martchwangan Chatny: This used to be a very staple item – poor man’s delicacy, really! A paste of green chilies + salt was prepared in a stone mortar and pestle (colloquially – wokhul); occasionally a bit of curd was added. In our lower-middle-class homes, this Chutney was a daily dinner time preparation to help tide over a vegetable shortage in the kitchen; gents were served whatever cooked vegetable was available and mostly, womenfolk would have to eat their rice with Martchwangan Chutney only!

These, of course, were in addition to the universal staples – Potato (called Oolu) and Onions (called Gande). Incidentally, till the early 1960s, a large number of Kashmiri Pandit families would not consume Onions and Tomatoes, traditionally considered ‘tamsik’ foods! Kashmir had another onion-like product called Praan (Leek or shallot/ Egyptian onion) which has a very strong smell. Praan & Garlic (Rohane) were consumed exclusively by Kashmir Muslims!

Of this lot, only a handful of vegetables would be sun-dried during summer. The common modus operandi was to slice/ cut the vegetable into smaller pieces and then put those out for drying in the sun. Once primary dehydration was achieved, the vegetable would be stringed like a garland which could then be kept in the sun and dried till the desired level of dehydration was achieved. The primary vegetables for this special honor included:

Zeeth Aal: The bottle gourd. This is the principal vegetable dried for winter.

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Sun-dried Aal (Bottle Gourd). Considered a delicacy for winters. Used extensively with dried Wangun

Wangun (Eggplant): Kashmir has certain typical species – those can be pinkish & long but not thick; another variety, called Thul Wangun is smaller in size. Kashmir did not have the deep purple colored or big-bellied variety of eggplants we find on plains. The taste too is pretty different from the deep purple variety.

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Sun-dried Wangun(Eggplant). Another delicacy for winter use. Often used with dried Bottle Gourd, Mutton, Tomatoes, etc

Gogji(Turnips): One of the most versatile and nutritious vegetables. Dried Gogji is used extensively during winter in combination with Mutton, Rajmash (Kidney Beans, native to Kashmir), Warimuth (Black Beans), and Nadru (Lotus Stem).

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A garland of sun-dried Gogj(Turnips). A very staple food; cooked with mutton, Wangun(eggplant), Rajmash (Kidney Beans), Warimuth(Black Beans), Nadru( Lotus Stem), etc as winter delicacies.

Bamchoonth: Quince. This is considered a delicacy, particularly amongst Kashmiri Pandits, and used on special, religious occasions.

Choky Choonth: Green Apples, the sour variety. Again, these would be used more in Kashmiri Pandit kitchens! Both these varieties are used extensively on holy days or on days when some fasting has to be done (food to be partaken only once in the day).

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Bamchoonth (Quince) and green, sour apples are diced and dried for winter use. Winter delicacies include combinations with Wangun(eggplant).

Tamater/ Ruwangan (Tomatoes): Mostly, Muslim families would go for these as Kashmiri Pandits would use Tomatoes infrequently till the 1960s.

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Tamatar(Ruwangan) Hatche. Tomatoes, often sundried in garlands

Karele (Bitter gourd): De-skinned, slit, salted, and then hung out in garlands for drying.

Haak saag (Collard Greens): Haakh is the principal vegetable during summers but was dried for winter use.

Rajmah – hyemb (Beans): Abundantly available during summers, those were dried for use in winter.

Nadru(Lotus stem): Grows extensively in the Lakes of Kashmir; diced and dried for winter use. The variety available from Anchar Lake near Srinagar was considered top quality.

A Novel Method of Preservation: Khaev
To prevent damage to fresh vegetables due to frost, Kashmir had a novel method of keeping certain vegetables in ‘fresh’ mode. Many families, particularly in villages would use this method to ensure the availability of vegetables when the valley used to be under heavy snow cover.

A pit was dug in the house compound, size depending upon the quantity to be stored. Vegetables like Turnips, Radishes, potatoes, etc were put into the pit and covered with a thick layer of paddy hay. Thereafter, a wooden plank was placed over the hay. Finally, the pit was covered with soil. The place used to be properly marked so that one would straight away approach it whenever the need for the same arose. I have seen this method used in our home in Srinagar.

Marchwangan(Green chilies): Kashmir has a very special kind of green chilies which are more like Paprika – not very ‘hot’ but give excellent color. The long & ‘hot’ variety also exists.

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The world-famous Kashmiri Red Chillies are sun-dried and powdered. Peprika-like, these lend excellent color to dishes without taking away the original taste!

Kangetch (Morchella/True Morels): This was a delicacy since the product is wild produce and has to be hand-picked from hills/ grasslands/ forests and then dried. Dried Morchella (Morels) is used as a delicacy for very special occasions. Often cooked with Fresh Cottage Cheese (paneer - tchaman in Kashmiri) and/ or milk. Again, only for the connoisseur. The current cost would be around Rs 35,000/- per kg. These are mostly exported to the Gulf countries.

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Dried Morchella

Apart from drying vegetables, Kashmir had a tradition of drying fish. Small fish, were, I believe cleaned and dried. Due to their strong, dare I call it offensive smell, I never developed any taste for these fish called ‘Hogaad’! It appears there were several variants like Ram Guran, Razze Hoggad, Pachh hoggad, and a few more local variants with varying sizes and shapes!

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Small fish, also called Ram Guran/ Hoggad in Kashmiri Pandit parlance, were sun-dried for use in winter. Powdered, dry Bhum(watercress) + Hoggad was a unique combination, savored by the connoisseurs.

Hoggad (dried fish) was a delicacy much preferred during winters. Most of the families would stock a small quantity and use it as and when required!

Kashmir also used to have another variant of a fish delicacy called ‘Pharre”. These used to be smoked fish, prepared in a specific manner in burning hay. This variant again was preferred by Muslims only!

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Pharre, burnt in hay

To a very large extent, Srinagar city relied on the Dal Lake for its supply of fresh vegetables, and therein hangs a very interesting tale. Dal Lake has a unique tradition of what is called ‘Floating Gardens'. These ‘gardens’ are improvised floating strips on which people living in Dal Lake grow vegetables. It is said that in the 14th century, King Zainalabdin (Badshah) invited specialists called ‘Meerabs’ from Sind (now Pakistan) to revive the Dal Lake that was dying of weeds. Removal of weeds has to be done on a regular basis and for that, an army of concerned citizens is needed. In comes the concept of Floating Gardens, empowering people living on the Dal Lake to have a stake in keeping the Lake weed free.

The eminent Kashmiri historian, Pt Anand Kaul Bamzai, in his magnum opus, History of Jammu & Kashmir (1913) mentioned that Mogul kings found watermelons grown on the floating gardens so irresistible that they would carry those with them to Agra/ Delhi! The book even chronicles the manner in which these floating gardens are formed.

Floating gardens are built from two types of weeds found in the Dal, known locally as pech (Typha angustata) and nargasa (Phragmites australis). Boatmen weave the weeds together into floating mats that form the base of the garden. Layers of pruned weeds are added and, in three years, the floating garden becomes a 2m-thick, 3m-wide, and 45m-long raft. The sizes, of course, may vary. There are two kinds of floating gardens, raadh, and demb. The raadh is a mobile floating garden, ideal for growing tomatoes, melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers. The demb is static, built either along the shore or in the shallows. Farmers grow almost every variety of vegetable on them: turnip, radish, carrot, saag during winter and melons, tomato, cucumber, and pumpkin in the summer.

The only problem with these Floating Gardens is that due to avarice or business rivalry, people try/ tend to ‘steal’ each other’s garden – these are like floating rafts with no fixed identification or demarcation – therefore, can easily be carried away by a neighbor or rival! Such stories were heard even during British rule and are prevalent today too!

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Preparing the Floating Vegetable Garden – Dal Lake

Floating gardens have been the ecological system in Dal Lake, over the last several centuries. Vegetable gardens as such create no harmful effect on the Dal since they use only organic manure. The lake dwellers are good at removing the algae and do it meticulously since their livelihood is involved. Early morning, these boat-dwellers carry their harvest to markets where they usually get good prices for their fresh & organic vegetables/ fruits!

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An early morning booming Floating Vegetable Market- Dal Lake, Srinagar

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Dried Bhum – a delicacy for the connoisseur. Mostly, cooked with Hogad (dried fish).

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Lotus Stem is one of the most versatile vegetables of Kashmiri. Grown in lakes & water bodies that abound in Kashmir

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Hand (Dandelion)– another typical delicacy of Kashmir

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Hokh Haakh (Sun Dried Collard Greens) – a staple for winters

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Razmah Hyembe – Sun Dried Beans, a true Delight

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Vaye Gandre (Vach in Hindi)– a traditional medicine for GI Track. Also used for certain religious activities( Navreh Thaal)

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Fresh Haakh -Collard Green – the Common Man’s Ultimate Delicacy is cooked DAILY in Kashmiri households!

Cooking these dried/ dehydrated vegetables definitely is an art. Besides, one has to develop a taste for the stuff. However, ask any Kashmiri – Hindu or Muslim and he shall swear by the mouth-watering delicacies. Due to drying/ dehydration, the taste-producing components would have become concentrated and the end result would be mouth-watering! Combinations like Al hatchh-Wangan Hatchh, Chok-wangun, and Bamchoonth-wangun, are legends only a true-blue Kashmiri can savor! My late Mom was a great patron of the ‘Hokh Syun” – dried vegetables!

Romance of childhood apart, the fact remains that we were a poor community, mostly middle-lower middle class. Hence, affordability was a big consideration. It made sense to buy vegetables in summer, when the prices would be low and availability high, and then store those for use in winter when the cost would be high or availability poor. Over the years, road transport facilities between Jammu & Srinagar improved considerably via the old Banihal Cart Road (BC Road, now known as NH1A); during my childhood, the Jammu-Srinagar Road would be blocked due to heavy snow/ landslides for weeks together during winter months! As the road improved, it opened up the Valley for the supply of vegetables from Jammu/Punjab markets. Fresh vegetables, at a reasonable cost, naturally, pushed out the dried variety! The younger generation of housewives/working ladies also is not very keen to go through the rigmarole of cleaning, slicing, drying, and stringing vegetables into garlands for the ultimate storage! A young friend currently living in Srinagar told me that his wife does not get into this drying vegetable business at all and prefers fresh arrivals from Jammu/ Punjab! With the Exodus in 1990, our community got pushed out of the valley and the main cause – low availability in winter became irrelevant! However, for my generation, the nostalgia for ‘Hokh Syun’ remains!

Comments

    • Suniel Kumar Dhar

      A very comprehensive and interesting article on Kashmiri vegetables particularly Kashmiri Hokh Syun! These Hokh Syun are being consumed and cherished by our generation in the present days also as the same are available in Jammu in winters also.🙏🙏

      • Amit

        I am highly impressed with the whole list of vegetables. Didn't know much about Honk Syun. Great in depth information. We always connected Kashmir with Apples. Beautiful write up. Keep up the great work. Best wishes. 

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