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Bon appetit from Ladakh

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Posted at: Mar 31, 2019, 3:32 AM; last updated: Mar 31, 2019, 3:32 AM (IST)
Bon appetit from Ladakh
Get acclimatised in the cold desert with warm garlic soup, butter tea, khambir, yosza, momos, thukpa, geuma and veg skew
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Local punch: Yak cheese with Kashmiri apples & roasted barley, vegetarian skew with fing aloo and steamed rice, garlic soup and sea buckthorn berries.



Khursheed Dinshaw

The cuisine of Leh and its surrounding areas is a delicious mix of unique taste, flavours and aromas created using local ingredients and varied cooking methods. Once you land at Leh, one of the most important acclimatisation tips is to slurp on the wholesome garlic soup made with sliced fresh garlic, shredded cabbage, chopped French beans and carrots.

“The garlic soup warms you up and increases the blood circulation. It helps in increasing the oxygen supply, which is crucial to acclimatisation in Leh,” explains Danish Din, director of a luxury hotel in Leh.

Butter tea is normally drunk for breakfast and is prepared using milk, butter and salt. Traditionally, yak butter was used to prepare it. However, since it is an acquired taste, now butter prepared from cows or dzomos, a female hybrid between a cow and a yak, is used. Khambir, which is a freshly baked thick bread made from wheat flour, is eaten with butter tea.
Barley is the staple of the Ladakhis. Roasted barley called yosza is a snack eaten with apricot kernels. It is also garnished on salads with yak cheese and ground into flour. Momos or steamed dumplings with vegetarian and non-vegetarian fillings and thukpa or a noodle soup make for hearty dishes. While geuma is Ladakhi sausage, vegetarian skew is a dish of handmade pasta, cooked with vegetables. Fing aloo is potatoes cooked with rice noodles in a gravy. Mutton shapta is a mutton stew that is eaten with fluffy steamed buns called tingmo. Puli is a bread which tastes like a biscuit and is taken along by the Ladakhis while visiting friends and family.

Chuli treat

In the summer season, fresh apricots called chuli are eaten. They are dried to be eaten in winter. “Dried apricots, locally known as phatind, are either deseeded or whole apricots are soaked in water till the flesh mixes well with the water. The resultant sweet pulpy mix is served to the guests,” adds Tchewang Norbu, chief spotter of Ulley village, which is a hotspot for wildlife spotting, specially the snow leopard. Norbu’s family manages the Snow Leopard Lodge in Ulley. Typically, a Ladakhi home has two kitchens. The first floor kitchen is used in summer and the second kitchen on the ground floor is used during winter. Sea buckthorn is a berry that is freshly available in September in Leh and the nearby villages. Thereafter, it is dried and turned into oil or cream to increase its shelf life. The berry is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, Vitamin B1 and B2, Vitamin C and E.

“Local berry cream is a scrumptious sweet dish made with locally available apricots and sea buckthorn. Both are blended 12 times to create a soft, melt-in-the-mouth dessert that gives the health benefits of both apricots and sea buckthorn,” explains Puneet Kaushik, executive chef of The Grand Dragon, Ladakh.

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Kind of surprised Ladakh does have some good vegetarian cuisine, given its harsh climate. Definitely looks like its worth trying.
 
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Once you land at Leh, one of the most important acclimatisation tips is to slurp on the wholesome garlic soup made with sliced fresh garlic, shredded cabbage, chopped French beans and carrots.

“The garlic soup warms you up and increases the blood circulation. It helps in increasing the oxygen supply, which is crucial to acclimatisation in Leh,”

Makes my mouth water.

“Local berry cream is a scrumptious sweet dish made with locally available apricots and sea buckthorn. Both are blended 12 times to create a soft, melt-in-the-mouth dessert

Reminds me of the Little Hearts biscuits.

270764_2-britannia-biscuits-little-hearts.jpg
 
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Oh Man! Now this is a very welcome thread! Thank you for inviting me.

Kind of surprised Ladakh does have some good vegetarian cuisine, given its harsh climate. Definitely looks like its worth trying.
The beauty and serenity of Ladakh and I being a vegetarian by choice, this is a must visit destination now!

Jammu and Kashmir.. Jammu Province.. 220 odd meters from the LOC on the India Pakistan border :-) Grew up in cross border firing.
I don't know whether to feel jealous or sorry for you. It must've been difficult growing up. I'm sure it has made you stronger than many of us (if that is any consolation).
 
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Kind of surprised Ladakh does have some good vegetarian cuisine, given its harsh climate. Definitely looks like its worth trying.

Ladakh also has very limited agricultural land. Actually thanks to the initiatives taken by locals, CSIR and DRDO labs, agriculture is very successful there and is only set to grow. Leh is almost self-sufficient in agricultural production thanks to the scientific innovations of our excellent scientists. So much so that a lot of vegetables for our jawans are airlifted directly from the city instead of having to go all the way to Uttarakhand or Himachal or Punjab for the short-term supplies.
 
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Jammu and Kashmir.. Jammu Province.. 220 odd meters from the LOC on the India Pakistan border :-) Grew up in cross border firing.
Must have been tough. Worst I have to deal with is a hurricane every few years or so:undecided:
Who ppl of Jammu support most? Pak or India?
Definitely India. Jammu, Ladakh, and northern Kashmir support India. It is mostly central and southern Kashmir that are against India. Unfortunately, that happens to be the most populated part of the JaK state, so those people end up defining the narrative around the entire state.
 
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Must have been tough. Worst I have to deal with is a hurricane every few years or so:undecided:

Definitely India. Jammu, Ladakh, and northern Kashmir support India. It is mostly central and southern Kashmir that are against India. Unfortunately, that happens to be the most populated part of the JaK state, so those people end up defining the narrative around the entire state.
We will take Jammu, Leh and Ladakh from India
 
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Must have been tough. Worst I have to deal with is a hurricane every few years or so:undecided:

Definitely India. Jammu, Ladakh, and northern Kashmir support India. It is mostly central and southern Kashmir that are against India. Unfortunately, that happens to be the most populated part of the JaK state, so those people end up defining the narrative around the entire state.


whats your opinion on how the Kashmir dispute should be solved should it both sides combine Kashmir into a separate country or something else
 
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I love butter tea with bread, we have that too in our village. :victory:

Yak meat with cheese, noodles and apricot oil is another dish to die for. :cheers:
 
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whats your opinion on how the Kashmir dispute should be solved should it both sides combine Kashmir into a separate country or something else
THat's a very complicated issue and a topic for another thread. There definitely is no easy solution.

We will take Jammu, Leh and Ladakh from India
Good luck. Didn't work out too well for you guys the last three times you tried that.
 
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