Kandur - A Baker’s Romance With The Bread
The very moment I made my way out of the Srinagar airport, I felt this place was different from all other places I'd ever been to. The Geography, Demography, Dialect, Populace - every aspect of Kashmir had a distinct character. I decided not to go by others' perceptions but to see for myself, what the valley had to tell about herself. My travel tales revolve around my experiences and I bring them to you - untinted, untarnished, stark, and in complete honesty.
A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Srinagar to Sonmarg was through implausible beauty, insanely-panoramic views, unspoiled nature, crystal blue Sindhu gurgling by our side, and little kids waving gleefully at us. By the time we reached the resort, the Sun had almost slipped behind the mountains and heaven was peppering the Earth with bespeckled gems. A drop poised on a grass blade, another hanging down the cup of a wildflower, till the breeze stirred and split them. Further ahead, a cluster of raindrops like a squandered chandelier dashed headlong down the hillside. The beautifully orchestrated show deserved an applaudable pause but the rain had brought the temperature plummeting down by several degrees. The air fresh with the pine scent felt icy crisp. I brought the folds of my jacket together and hurriedly walked the few steps to the entrance. Mom and dad already comfortable in the warm depth of the sofa were enjoying cakes, and cookies, while sipping hot tea. Cold and tired, I too reached out for a hot cup myself to warm my fingers.
The divine beauty of the valley becomes greener than green in the depths of the monsoon!
Instantly, I was drawn to the legendary Kashmiri samovar, standing tall, right in the center of the table, and an array of buns and cookies around it. A samovar, which literally means “self-brewer”, is a traditional Kashmiri kettle that is used to brew, boil and serve Kashmiri Salted Tea (Noon Chai) and Kehwa. The traditional heritage of serving tea in this coal-heated tea kettle trace back its origin to Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran. The Kashmiris irrespective of their religious affiliation continue their unshakeable allegiance to the traditional way of serving tea.
We too were greeted the traditional way with a deliciously-hot cup of spiced Kehwa, generously garnished with almond slivers and a liberal sprinkling of saffron. A perfect antidote to the rainstorm raging outside! I was told that they had not strained the kehwa. Rather the residues – leaves, saffron, and whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon) were left at the bottom to seep in and enhance the taste. What I thought to be cakes and cookies turned out to be an assortment of traditional Kashmiri breads.
Two cups of kehwa, and three different types of delicious Kashmiri breads down my esophagus, fanned my hunger to lap up more about these breads! Why? Because we were told that what we had just consumed were the evening breads, (straight from the kandur/bakery) different from what’s eaten in the morning.
Different breads for different hours of the day! Now that caught my interest and opened a floodgate of questions from my end. The staff at The Sultan Resort happily batted all the questions, my curious mind balled at them and conceded to our request to include nun-chai (salted pink tea) and a variety of delectable Kashmiri breads from the kandur especially for us in the buffet-breakfast, the next morning.
We all know about the valley’s love affair with tea but what we don't know is that the bread here is treated with reverence. The aroma of freshly baked breads and salty noon-chai wafts through the nippy early morning air in Kashmir as neighbourhood kandurs (bakers) prepare crisp golden girda or thin unleavened lavasa to be relished with piping hot tea. The smell of baked bread rising from the wood-fired tandoor is a tough temptation to resist, more so for any Kashmiri, whose day is incomplete without a breakfast of hot bread. Work in the bakery starts well before dawn when the valley is still asleep. Bakeries match their activity to the namaz-e-fajr which is usually performed between dawn and daybreak. Every Kashmirí’s home is in the vicinity of a tandoor. Each morning people head to the local kandur (baker) carrying a wicker basket in which to place their favourite breads. Using long iron rods, the baker removes the breads from the tandoor and drops them directly into the basket. In Kashmir, the kandur shop isn’t just a place where one goes to buy the morning and evening bread, it is a social hub. A place where you get to listen to and participate in discussions that range from gossip to political discourses to moral lectures. It is a place where all local happenings are discussed.
Before Facebook or Twitter, a topic goes viral in Kashmiri neighborhoods because it has been discussed at the kandurwan in the morning.
Legend has it that in the 14th century, Kashmiri Sufi mystic and poet Lal Ded or Lalleshwari jumped in a kandur’s tandoor to hide herself from a man. She later emerged bedecked with clothes and ornaments. From that day, kandurs regard her as a source of divine strength that keeps their tandoors burning. Her pictures adorn the bakeries even now.
Interestingly, the kandur keeps on changing the breads with almost every passing couple of hours. For every single variety of the bread, the tandoor has to be prepared differently as the temperature varies for each bread. Tshot/Girda is prepared under an open flame, to make it soft and get the yellowish-brown colour on its surface. Kulchas and Tsochwor are baked at a low temperature after covering the lid of the tandoor. Bagirkhein is cooked under medium flame with the tandoor opening covered with a warm towel.
As the day starts crawling towards noon, the famous tilwor, and the not-so-famous but equally delectable katlam goes into the tandoor.
Tilwor or Chochwor shaped like a donut is a small, soft, round bread of about three inches in diameter. Soft on the inside with a crispy upper crust, usually sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds. It is made after lunch and savored with a hot cup of nun chai in the afternoon or early evening. Hot Czochwor tastes best when dunked in a cup of nun chai.
Katlam is similar to khari or 'tie' available in the local bakeries in Delhi. Katlam has a multi-layered personality and all the layers are crunchy in perfect order as your teeth go on biting the layers. Even the relatively soft core is so delicious that you may want to skip your lunch over multiple cups of nun chai along with a continuous supply of katlams. However, unlike the khari biscuits, the katlams tend to lose the crunchiness over a couple of hours.
Bagirkhein is also an everyday bread. Baked in layers and often served with kehwa, it is more like a puff pastry. It is made by stretching the sheet of dough repeatedly, interleaving with ghee before baking in a tandoor. Bagirkhein is not unique to Kashmir though. It is available from Bangladesh to Uttar Pradesh to Pakistan, with a slight variation in the recipe in every region.
And how can I forget the Kulcha! No, no, not the typical north-Indian kulcha. Kashmiri kulcha or kulche is small, hard, dry, crumbly bread, usually round in shape and sprinkled with poppy seeds. The regular kulcha is salty. There is a sweet one also, which is called khatai, it is sugary and big. A hybrid with the taste of one and the form of the other is called Czochwor kulche. Kashmiris love to dunk the kulcha in nun chai and then scoop out the creamy mixture with a spoon.
So far I’ve mentioned only the daily breads consumed in the valley. However, there are a few breads which are prepared for special occasions like weddings and new arrivals.
One such bread is Roth. A bulky bread, laden with dry fruits and coconut with a sweet tinge, it is exclusive to grand occasions like weddings and childbirths.
Gyevchot which literally translates as the ghee roti is made using ghee (clarified butter). It has a fluffy, soft texture with the top baked to a golden hue.
Then there's Sheermal or Krippè , a sweet bread prepared using refined flour, milk, saffron, and dates, this one has a mildly sweet flavor. Prepared using date-flavored milk this one goes best with the kehwa. It’s like a delicious biscuit. Crisp, crumbly, and flavorful.
Each region of Kashmir has its special bread. Baramulla is known for namkeen kulcha, Pampore is famous for sheermal, Sophian for Krippè, and Anantnag for katlam. While the daily breads have a short shelf life, the dry varieties can last for days at a stretch. Kulchas and sheermal made with ghee can last for months. Pilgrims to Haj carry special ghee kulchas, which serve as comfort food on their travels.
For hundreds of years, the artisan kandurs (bakers) have nourished their communities with the work of their hands, kneading and letting their dough rise, stoking the fire in their ovens, and baking traditional loaves, day in and day out.
All the breads, their aroma, smell, appearance, colour, size, and overall texture are characteristics optimized by the kandurs over the many years they have spent mastering their art.
Whether you indulge in a simple breakfast with saffron-scented kehwas or an evening chai session with neighbors and gossip, the marks on these breads remind you of long hours spent hurling them out of the tandoor in arid rooms.
Like all other aspects of Kashmiri life, the kandur’s business has also been severely affected by the three-decade-long strife in Kashmir and frequent curfews. Even when everything was shut down, the kandurs kept their tandoors ablaze, because bread is a daily necessity. Through all these economic, political, and social conflicts, the kandurs have tenaciously kept faith in their craft. This is not only a testament to their inner resilience but their undying belief that as long as there are clear streams and open skies in the Valley, life will always be accompanied by the yeasty goodness of Kashmiri breads!
For hundreds of years, the artisan kandurs from the valley have nourished their communities with the work of their hands, kneading and letting their dough rise, stoking the fire in their ovens, and baking traditional loaves, day in and day out. These accomplished practitioners are dotted all over the valley. Well before everyone wakes up, a kandur opens his bakery and fires the tandoor. Throughout the day he is busy, in-between catches up a nap and then stokes the fire again - for many a variety of breads to be made, to be consumed during different hours of the day and on different occasions… Czot, Girda, Lavasas, Tilwor, Kulcha, Czochwor kulchè, Khatai, Katlam, Bagirkhein, Ghyev czhot, Sheermal or Krippe are the many varieties that come out of these intriguing burning ovens!
