The Contested Area of India Known for Its Exceptional Bread That Rivals France's Baked Goods

In Kashmir, as governed by India, long before the Muzzin whispers for the Fajr prayer, all the bakers of Srinagar city, known as kandurs, have already prepared their tandoor.


The area also has enormous bread culture, an inheritance from the age-old commerce routes popularly referred to as the'silk roads' that connected Europe, the Middle East, and Asian countries. Though rice is the most cooked staple food in almost every home in Kashmir, bread is the main sustainer of the local community and economy. Local bakeries produce around 10 types of bread every day, each having its own distinct and designated time for eating.


Mehvish, getting bothered at aspirations from Kashmir, which are appearing only in terms of killings and politics, decided to explore the movement of culture in another form.


"The cultural identity of Kashmiris has been under constant threat, so bread has turned out to be a part of culture that we want to preserve," she adds, explaining the reasons behind why Kashmir holds significance in the culture of Kashmir society.


Kashmir's traditional bakers, known as kandurs, make different types of bread in clay tandoor ovens. Baking practices of this nature can also be observed across Central Asia. The word "tandoor" is of Persian etymology, which translates quite simply as an "oven." Although it began centuries ago, the practice of bread baking using a clay oven has remained consistent in its methods and forms.


"There is a very advanced rhythm of life related to the time one should eat what kind of food and with what kind of bread. But it is not written anywhere, and nobody tells you. You just have to watch and let it sink in," she says Reshii.


The local lavasa and girda flat breads go well with noon chai, a rich tea of milk, butter, and salt. Breads are also enjoyed with eggs or with butter spread along with jam. An afternoon can be a meal where a tschowor is added to the meal, which is known to people from this place as a bagel.


"I came from a household that ordered seven girda's every morning. I would buy eight of them since I always wanted to have one straight out of the oven, on my way back home, from the kandurwan," recalls Marwah. As a child, she enjoyed tucking into the breads of Kashmir, and only later in life, when she became a cook, did she understand the weight of this cuisine—the territorial delicacies it came with.


"All these breads obviously are techniques just like a croissant, a bagel, or sourdough. With regards to making most of those, it is almost like how to make a sourdough," she says.


Now, she, along with a number of other chefs found across India, are looking to do something. Marwah's offering at Folk includes a couple of Kashmiri breads with altered recipes and dimensions to cater to the working population of Mumbai.