Koshur Saal is a food festival serving authentic Kashmiri food in Chennai

Wanna try Saffron Rice with Kabargah? Or some Chicken Yakhani? J Hind is the place to head to.

Nadru Kebab served at the festival

A Kashmiri food festival in Chennai? That was indeed our reaction when we heard about the Koshur Saal when it got launched recently. Naturally, we had to see what Chef Rahul Wali had in store for us. Thus, we dropped in and tried a few dishes. Quite a few actually, if we are being honest.

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Before we began, Chef Wali, who is originally from Srinagar, said the menu contains some of Kashmir's iconic dishes and they come without onion, garlic and tomato! Knowing that it is quite tricky to achieve the taste Chennaiites are very much used to, we started to dig in.

We began with the Warimuth Cappuccino with Parmesan Lavass, a black turtle bean soup which looked like strong coffee, with fennel foam on top to give it that cappuccino look. We really liked the unique, strong taste of the soup which was a treat to the eyes as well.

The lamb shank was very delicious and the meat was cooked the perfection

Then came the time to taste the non-vegetarian thali containing Saffron Rice, Kabargah (lamb ribs), Buzith Gaad (tandoori fish), Walnut Chutney, Gaad Mujj (fish with jasmine red chilli paste), Chicken Yakhani, Nadru (lotus stem) Palak with Lavass, Mutton Roganjosh Palak with Lavass and Radish Chutney.

The whole platter is a treat to those who love variety. The rice was soft and so was the Chicken Yakhani, a yoghurt-based chicken curry. However, we found the Kabargah to be a bit chewy. No such problems with the Mutton Roganjosh though and similarly, the Gaad Mujj was as tasty as well. We also liked the Walnut Chutney and the Radish Chutney, but the Nadru Palak with Lavass was very much the odd one out in the thali.

With the thali out of the way, we also tried a few more dishes which sounded rather delicious. The Nadur Kebab made with smoked lotus stems and served with a delicious chutney was smashing. Similarly, the Gucchi Yakhani, a slow-cooked morel mushroom gravy was lip-smacking as well.

The Chicken Yakhani with the Saffron Rice is a must try.

But the chef had saved the best for last. The dessert platter consisted of Saffron Phirni Tartlets, Caramelised Apple Kheer and Gulabi Doodh Chotch. While we were devouring the desserts, we could not help but think about the amount of calories these mouth-watering desserts contained. So, we asked the chef and he did not want to get into specifics either. No matter, we made sure that our plates were empty.

Those who head to the festival for dinner will have even more fun. For example, if you order the Fruit Flambe (with apple, pear and cherry), you would be treated to a visual treat. The waiter brings the fruits to your table and takes a spoonful of whiskey and lights it up. The burning drink is then poured onto the fruits and in an instant, gets vapourised while leaving the taste intact.