Kashmiri wazwan feast
- Private tour
- Vegetarian version available on request
- Can be arranged at a houseboat or restaurant setting
- No payment to start planning
- If you want to buy saffron or walnuts to take home, a government emporium is the safer source to avoid counterfeit products.
- Best booked as a dedicated evening rather than fitted around a full day of sightseeing, given the pace and number of courses.
What’s included
Inclusions are itemised on your written quote.
What’s not included
- Flights and hotel
- Alcohol
- Transfers to the feast venue unless arranged with your itinerary
Cancellation terms are confirmed with your written quote
- No payment is taken until you approve the itinerary.
Seating
Guests are typically seated together around shared dishes, often on a houseboat or in a traditional Kashmiri setting.
Courses arrive in sequence
Dishes are brought out over the course of the meal rather than laid out all at once; pace is unhurried.
Rice and bread throughout
Kashmiri pulao and sheermal bread accompany the meat courses.
Kahwa to finish
The meal traditionally closes with a cup of saffron-scented kahwa tea.
The wazwan is Kashmir's traditional multi-course feast, rich, slow-cooked and largely meat-based, built around dishes such as rogan josh, yakhni and gushtaba, Kashmiri pulao and lotus-stem nadru, finished with saffron-scented kahwa tea. It is a set-piece meal best booked as its own evening rather than squeezed between sightseeing.
What a wazwan is
Kashmiri food is rich, slow-cooked and meat-heavy, built around the multi-course wazwan feast. Signature dishes include rogan josh (lamb on the bone in a deep red chilli and fennel gravy), yakhni (a yoghurt-based curry) and gushtaba (pounded meatballs in a yoghurt gravy), served alongside Kashmiri pulao, saffron rice topped with pomegranate and nuts, and nadru, a preparation using lotus stem. Flaky sheermal bread accompanies the meal, and it traditionally finishes with a cup of kahwa, saffron-scented green tea.
- This is a substantial, largely meat-based feast; tell us in advance if you need a vegetarian version, which is available but changes the character of the meal significantly.
- If you want to buy saffron or walnuts to take home, a government emporium is the safer source to avoid counterfeit products.
- Best booked as a dedicated evening rather than fitted around a full day of sightseeing, given the pace and number of courses.
Best season and starting point
Available year-round in Srinagar; particularly memorable on a houseboat on Dal Lake in the evening. Winter (Kashmir's snow season) and the summer high season both suit it, since the meal is indoors.
Is the wazwan always meat-based?
Traditionally yes, but a vegetarian version can be arranged with advance notice, substituting vegetable and paneer preparations for the meat courses.
How many courses are there?
It varies by host and occasion; expect several distinct meat preparations alongside rice, bread and tea, confirmed on your quote.
Is it very spicy?
Rich and warming rather than uniformly hot; rogan josh has a deep red colour from Kashmiri chilli but is not the fieriest regional cuisine in India.
Where is it usually served?
Often at a houseboat, restaurant or private home in Srinagar; the exact venue is confirmed on booking.
Can it be paired with a Dal Lake shikara ride?
Yes, ask us to combine it with our Kashmir shikara and houseboat stay experience.
Reviews
- 5 stars3
- 4 stars2
- 3 stars1
- 2 stars0
- 1 stars0
What our guests say
Tom R
Group · Verified trip
5/54 days agoPerfect balance of monuments and everyday life — a spice market, a morning at a ghat, then the big sights in the afternoon light. Our guide read the group well and adjusted the pace.
via Tripadvisor
James H
Friends · Verified trip
4/52 weeks agoExcellent guide and a well-paced day. My only note is that lunch was at a fairly touristy restaurant; food was fine but we would have preferred somewhere more local. Otherwise faultless.
via Google
Ben A
Couple · Verified trip
5/51 month agoThe Kashmiri wazwan feast was the highlight of our three weeks in India. Our guide was a history graduate and it showed — stories rather than dates, and he was happy to be asked anything.
via Tripadvisor
Divya B
Family · Verified trip
3/53 months agoMixed feelings. The sites were spectacular and the driver excellent, but our guide's English was harder to follow than we expected and we missed some of the detail. The office apologised quickly when we mentioned it.
via Google
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