Restaurant Review : Orzuv Hub Cafe - Essence of Kashmir,Bangalore

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The rich and aromatic flavour of the foods suites all the tastes and tongues unique to Kashmiri cuisine. The traditional style of cooking in the Indian state of Kashmir is known as Wazwan.

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As per the historical sources, the Kashmir’s traditional cuisine, Wazwan, dates back to the last years of the 14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiruddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty. This resulted in the migration of many including cooks from Samarkand to the Kashmir valley. The descendants of these cooks came to be known as “Wazas”, who are the master chefs of Kashmir.

While looking for some Kasmiri wazawan in Bangalore, foodie friend of mine, Sanghmitra Gupta , recommended me ORZUV – the Essence of Kashmir.

Yesterday,while I was in whitefield for some work , making best use of the opportunity, I decided to visit them for dinner.

Housed in a beautiful old styled Bungalow, with mostly wooden interiors that will take one back to the heaven on earth.I must confess that the place has a inevitable charm, that spell-bounds the visitors. The miniature shikaras, old style floor level seating, rugs and carpets, artefacts and more ,all add to that aura of Himalayan valley here in the city of Bangalore.

At the side of the Bunglow ,on the ground floor,they have a kitchen where Wazas and Kandur,a Baker who specialises in making Kashmiri bread work together.It also has the a Boutique that sells anything with Kashmiri origin and style, from papier mache products to silk and pashmina products , exquisite Kashmiri embroidered dresses to elegant sarees.

MENU

The menu is lavish by any Kashmiri standards and has lot to offer from the rich wazwan.

To begin, we had the Saffron Kehwa, also known as Kahwa, Kashmiri tea brewed in Saffron , almond and spice. Traditionally prepared in the copper kettle, Samovar , the aromas were quite appealing to our senses.

And then skipping the tempting kababs , we went for the 4 mains out of 6 non-vegetarian for the day , namely the GUSHTABA , meatballs in Yakhni gravy , RISTA , meat balls in spicier red gravy, ROGANJOSH ,the signature aromatic kashmiri dish and DHANWAL KORMA, the tangy curd based coriander chicken.

To accompany them, we ordered some assorted breads from the region like LAVASA , the thin large unleavened flat bread , GIRDA , the daily home bread, GYAV TCHOT, small Kashmiri bagel, CZOCHWORU, the special girda bread and the BAKARKHANI, a tandoori bread from the region.

VERDICT
Everything we tried and felt was so authentic , that we felt we were in Kashmir. Thanks to the Chefs and Kandurs from the valley, Bangalore now has great option of Kashmiri Cuisine.Highly recommended.