Authentic wazwan a great draw in a year that has seen the highest ever number of tourists visit Kashmir

Wazwan, the elaborate meal with 10 mutton dishes, has emerged as the most loved flavour of the tourist season in the Kashmir Valley this year, which saw the highest ever tourist footfall of over two million.  

Bhavyesh Moopan, a motorcyclist from Kerala, drove all the way to Srinagar to relish an authentic wazwan this month. Mr. Moopan, along with 14 of his friends from south India, got past a labyrinth of narrow alleys in Srinagar’s old city to reach Wazpora, the oldest colony of traditional cooks called waza.

Kashmiri wazas, or chefs, prepare a wedding feast wazwan in Srinagar. Wazwan is a multi-cuisine meal in Kashmir with more than a dozen dishes cooked over simmering fires of wood prepared by wazas, who claim to be descendants of chefs who migrated from parts of central Asia to Kashmir in the 15th century. File (Source: Nissar Ahmad)