Srinagar, 20-Nov;: From staple winter food of Kashmir to occasional delicacy ,the dried vegetables have largely gone out of fashion. In winter’s the demand for dried vegetables used to goes up for sale as demand for these dried vegetables used to touch the sky.People used to keep stock of dried vegetables for winter’s as there used to be shortage of vegetables in winter due to the highway blockage which would affect the supplies from outside to the Valley. But now the availability of fresh vegetables throughout the year and also the myths in yesteryears that these dried vegetables are not hygienic and can cause diseases has lead to the downfall of its sale.“We had the tradition of drying vegetables at home in past years but now trend has changed people mostly do not prefer to do these things at home, they rather want things readymade, however, there are still some people who are associated with this trade and make good earnings during winter season”, said Zamrooda while buying dried gourds.Many Kashmiri Pandits who migrated out of the Valley still request their Muslim brethren and friends to send them these dried delicacies.”My first request to friend in the Kashmir is to send me Gogjie arie(dried turnips) and dried fish (hogad). My mother and wife almost celebrates cooking of these dried things as this was become part of our tradition and now nostalgia,” Vinod koul, 50, who lives in delhi and is on vacations to the valley.People preferred to relish the taste of these traditional foodsDried tomatoes (ruvangan hache), brinjals (vangan hache), fenugreek (hoch meeth),gourds (alae hache), spinach (hoch palak), and turnips (gogji area) are the commonly available dried vegetables in Kashmir.Even Smoked fish (farrie) and dry fish (hokh gaddi) are also available in varieties with rate varying from 400rs to 2000rs per kilogram .Few people dry vegetables for winter, particularly in old city of Srinagar and other urban areas. Most shops selling dried food have either closed down or switched to more profitable trade.Jalal-u-din in zaina kadal said,“I get different vegetables dried during summers when the day temperatures are high and in winters I sell them here at my shop. People do visit and buy almost every variety.”Jalal-u-din has been associated with this trade for past 15 years. He says though the demand is not that much as it used to be decades back yet people prefer to consume it in good quantity.In the Jamia Masjid Market, once dozen shops selling dried vegetables have adopted other businesses over the last decade, leaving only two or three to continue this trade.Nisar Ahmad from this market said, “If we do not eat dried vegetables during winter season we feel something to be missing out. Dried vegetables are costlier than fresh one’s, a kilogram of dried tomatoes goes upto rs 400 while dried gourds can be around 300rs per kilogram yet people prefer to consume these veggies because they are believed to have medicinal value as well”.“We had the family business
