Eat your way through Katra

While the world turns to healthier diets, it still grapples with one problem — how long can you sustain this? Once your weight/health goals are achieved, you go back to the food that derailed you in the first place. But what if the food you’ve been having was actually healthy? 

Rich, not in terms of calories, carbs or fats classification, but in fundamental purity. What if we could peel off the fatty layer of Capitalism from our food to reach to wholesomeness? Where there is no vested interest to reduce costs by adding unnatural ingredients. Wouldn’t that be ideal? 

There already exists such a world, not an isolated, idyllic haven, but a buzzing city that serves only sattvik food? Katra in Jammu.  

Katra serves as the base camp for pilgrims en route to Vaishno Devi, and while offers all kinds of north Indian food to cater to the array of tourists it hosts, it is all sattvic — be it authentic Kashmiri cuisine or a Punjabi thali.

While many pilgrimage sites serve only sattvik food, what sets Katra apart is the unique blend of regional cuisine with food from neighbouring states and dishes that cater to the urban palate. So whether you order paneer lababdar, pao bhaji, pizza or burger, the recipe is tweaked to adhere to rules of sattvic cooking and not skimp on flavour.

In fact, a few kilometres before Katra, a large sign declares that no onion, garlic or meat is allowed from this point onwards. According to Ayurveda, the heat-inducing combination of onion and garlic stokes baser instincts such as carnal desires and mental lethargy. Neither have a place on a pilgrimage, where the focus is on devotion. The long trek ahead to see Mata requires an energetic body and alert mind.

(Clockwise from Top left: Haak with rice: Ambal, a pumpkin curry: Lotus stems; Kamal kakdi keeps the body warm: Kashmiri rajma)

Rajma raj

Katra is perfectly placed, geographically, to offer a wealth of ingredients grown locally -- saffron, nuts such as walnuts and almonds, local spices such as hing, kasoori methi, tumba ajwain, shahi zeera, saunf, sonth, haldi, deghi mirch, anardana, elaichi, tamarind, mustard, cinnamon, and apples, apricots, pears, cherries, plums, pomegranates, peaches fresh from its orchards, not to mention clear, nearly colourless Kashmiri honey that is clean on the palate.

Rajma-chawal, the traditional Sunday feast in every Kashmiri home, is omnipresent in Katra, with each restaurant, eatery and outlet declaring its supremacy over the other. Rajma, red kidney beans, grown in Jammu, are sweeter than their cousins from the plains, and also smaller, softer with a deeper red, almost maroon, colour.

Sweet spring water of the region and spices untainted by long supply chains that call for preservation measures add to the flavour.

The bean is a powerhouse of proteins and minerals and takes a long time to digest — perfect to keep tummies of the faithful full as they climb five to eight hours to the shrine.

Another introduction one must make is with the lotus stem or kamal kakdi, beloved of the Jammu and Kashmir region. A dish you can't walk past without tasting is the nadru yakhni — a mildly spiced, aromatic preparation where the lotus stems are cooked in creamy yoghurt until they are tender but crunchy. It is garnished with dried mint.

Nadru yakhni is made without onion and garlic anyway, so there are no tweaks to the recipes found in Katra. The dish is rich in Vitamin C, fortifying the immunity of the devotees, the plentiful fibre lowers cholesterol while the lotus stem strengthens the respiratory system which works overtime in the high altitude. The stems are available from Fall to Spring and keep the body warm. 

Another local acquaintance one must make is haak, a generic Kashmiri word for a wide variety of greens — a variety of spinach, cohlrabi leaves, radish greens and even dandelion greens — grown in every season.

In the homes of Kashmiri Pandits, whole haak is sautéed in mustard oil with minimal spices and asafoetida, spread over rice and eaten with delight. It’s a humble dish that can transport you to cosy evenings in the mountains. The spinach-like haak is the most beloved, with its subtle flavour tinged with pungency that's accentuated by the mustard oil. High on minerals and vitamins, it also digestion and helps fight off respiratory illnesses. 

The legacy of the Indo-Aryan Dogras, who ruled Kashmir till the 1950s, can be seen in ambal — a simple semi-dry curry made of sweet and sour pumpkin. The best way to sample an ambal is to sit in one of the langars (free community meals served in gurudwaras), and mix it with rice and rajma. 

If you are short on time and want the best of Katra on a platter, order a trammi or traem —  a platter of four to five accompaniments to rice, local breads and salad. The Kashmiri style of plating is to serve it on an intricately carved copper plate with a lid (sarposh). In a sattvik trammi, you can expect a kofta curry, nadru yakhni, rajma, dum aloo and haak — all foods that fortify you for the trek ahead and make you hurry back down for more. 

GUIDE

• Air: Jammu is the nearest airport. 
• Train: Udhampur is the closest station. Newly-launched Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express
• For the full experience, order a  sattvik trammi, which is a Kashmiri thaali

FOOD WITH GUNAS

• Ayurveda sees food as not only something that nourishes the body, but also steers behaviour.
• Sattvik food hinges on purity and vitality. Considered a yogic diet, it aligns with the concept of ahimsa & comprises fresh, seasonal fruits, dairy products, nuts, seeds, oils, ripe vegetables, whole grains, with all things eaten in moderation. The food must be consumed within three hours of preparation and should be devoid of artificial flavours.