Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 27: The five-day Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC) Winter Festival concluded in Bhuj, Gujarat, drawing large crowds and strong demand for Kashmiri vegetarian cuisine and saffron Kahwa as cold weather gripped the Kutch region.
With night temperatures dropping to 9-10 degrees Celsius, visitors thronged food stalls offering warm traditional delicacies.
The Kashmiri vegetarian stall emerged as a major attraction, especially the saffron Kahwa served in traditional copper samovars.
The Kashmiri food presentation was led by environmentalist and cultural activist Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat and his team, who prepared a wide range of traditional dishes, desserts, soups, and beverages
Food stalls from Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kutch (Gujarat), and other states added to the festival’s rich culinary diversity.
LLDC, a renowned crafts museum and educational resource centre in Bhuj, was established a decade ago by the Shrujan Trust, run by the Shroff family, to preserve and promote the traditional crafts of the Kutch region.
Its annual winter festival celebrates India’s crafts, folk music, dance, and food.
This year’s edition marked LLDC’s 10th anniversary and was held under the theme “Unity in Diversity.”
Artisans, chefs, singers, and performers from across the country took part in the festival, which attracted an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 visitors over five days.
“We offered a blend of traditional dishes and innovative variations,” Dr Bhat said. “Items such as Rumah chaat, Chana Badam chaat, Bamchoonth halwa (quince apple halwa), Rumah soup, saffron Shahi Tukda, and saffron Akhrot Badam Phirni were especially popular, as people in Kutch prefer sweets.”
The Kashmiri food stall team also included Raashed Ashraf, Imran Khan Mutwa, Ramesh Mangeria, Rohit, and Zakaria, whose efforts were appreciated by visitors and festival organisers.
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