One of the oldest Harissa shops in Downtown relishes taste buds

Srinagar, Feb 16: In the wee hours, the elderly and young queue up outside a shop at Fateh Kadal area of Downtown to savour their taste buds with the cherished winter delicacy Harissa.

Kaka’s Harissa shop is one of the oldest and popular Harissa shops in Downtown

This modest shop is special because it is among the first few shops that started in Downtown with this delicacy—having Persian roots. “This shop use to look like a wooden kiosk when my grandfather used to work here,” said 65-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, owner of Kaka’s Harissa shop.

“It won’t be an exaggeration to say that ours was among the first Harissa shops that started to serve this winter delicacy. If I talk about myself, I have seen my grandfather and father work here, and now I’m over 65 years old, and my children have taken over,” he added.

With a big knife in his hand, Bhat is preparing a fresh lot of Harissa for the next day while his son is busy serving the customers. Bhat said that Harissa is unlike instant fast food and needs absolute patience to create this delicious dish.

“There are no shortcuts to this dish. We start the preparation a day ahead by cutting the best pieces of lamb meat and then using the spices in the perfect proportion. We also mix rice to it, but it should not be ration shop rice but good quality native rice. We have not changed the recipe, and the same method is used that our elders taught us a century back,” Bhat said.

Bhat said that over the century and since his childhood, a lot has changed except for Srinagar’s love for Harissa. He said that as most of food items have undergone change and Harissa is also slowly moving from traditional shops to fancy restaurants.

“I don’t know if the coming generation will preserve this legacy like we did because all food businesses have become more about profit and loss. We had a spiritual connection with this work. My shop is opposite Baba Karim Sahib (RA) masjid, and we have great faith in this Sufi saint. Even today, people from other districts come to our shop and take Harissa as Tabaruk. Now the new generation is preparing Harissa in restaurants and at home in pressure cookers, but that can never match the traditional Harissa shops,” he added.

Bhat takes pride that one of his sons is helping him at the shop. “Am sure that my legacy will be carried forward.” “Most of Kashmir's traditional business is dying because the new generation is not willing to carry it forward. He fears with the modernisation of Harissa, the centuries-old delicacy will move out of traditional preparation in Harissa shops to fancy restaurants and lose its soul,” he said.

Despite the passing of decades, Bhat says that the loyal customer base is intact. “People who used to come there as kids have now become grandfathers, but their love for the shop has continued,” he said.

“I am a native of Downtown but recently moved to Uptown, but my nostalgia for this shop brings me back. I travel kilometers to reach here and relish my childhood memories while eating this winter delicacy,” Ghulam Rasool, an elderly customer, said.

Manzoor Ahmad, the owner of Kaka’s Harissa shop, said that a lot has changed and so has the prices of raw materials. ‘This has badly impacted the rates. I have heard from my elders that we used to sell Harissa at 1.5 rupees per serving and one Kg used to be sold at six rupees. Now, the same is sold at 1200-1300 per Kg. However, unlike junk food, this is very healthy and keeps you warm in chilling winters, so it is not a bad investment,” Bhat said.

“I hope to continue to carry forward the tradition amid the changing culinary landscape of Kashmir,” Bhat added.