‘Big Choice Harissa’ is a shop in downtown Srinagar, serving Kashmiri flavored harissa for over 200 years. It is run jointly by 85-year-old Ghulam Mohammad and his son Zahoor Ahmad Bhat.
Winter time in Kashmir and people craze for harissa snack everywhere! So when a father-son duo pulls up the shutters of their 200-year-old harissa shop in Srinagar’s downtown, there is a long queue of customers because of the age-old Kashmiri flavour.
With 60 years of experience in making harissa, 80-year-old Ghulam Mohammad and his 45-year-old son Zahoor Ahmed Bhat serve harissa to people with love. The magic of their taste is that every day the harissa ends here by noon.
Zahoor Ahmed Bhat says that people stand here in queues from six in the morning. If someone comes at three o’clock, he has to return empty-handed, so people here place orders for Harissa two days in advance.
Actually, the meat and hot spices used in it work to keep the body warm in winter. That’s why harissa is eaten in the winter season. In this shop of Zahoor Ahmed, earthen utensils are used to make this dish and for this they have also made a special kitchen.
Ghulam Mohammed started making harissa at the age of 18 with his father. He says that many prominent personalities have tasted Harissa at his ancestral shop.
Harissa is a delicious and nutritious dish. It is served hot on plates by sprinkling oil with saffron, kebabs, fenugreek. It is made from fresh meat, which does not contain bones. It is made from meat, moong, rice and a variety of spices. Traditionally it is eaten with lovasa (bread). This dish is one of the best dishes in winters.
Initially this traditional Kashmiri harissa was eaten in towns and villages, but today it is eaten and cooked with great gusto across the country. 18 hours of hard work is behind its amazing taste. Zahoor Ahmed tells that he starts making harissa from two o’clock in the afternoon, then somewhere around three to four o’clock in the night it is ready.
Although you have many reasons to visit Kashmir, but if you are going to Kashmir in winter and eat non-veg, then tasting Harissa in this 200-year-old shop in Srinagar can be one of the reasons for your trip.
Editing- Archana Dubey
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