Jammu travel guide

Rajma chawal

North India's most universally loved comfort meal—red kidney beans slow-cooked in a tomato-onion-ginger masala, served over steamed white rice with raw onion; the specific Jammu rajma variety is considered the finest; eaten every Sunday at every North Indian household

Dogra thali

Jammu region's unique non-Kashmiri thali—rajma chawal, ambal (sweet-sour pumpkin), Dogri kadhi, madra, khatta meat and kaladi cheese; reflects Jammu's Hindu Dogra heritage distinct from the Muslim Kashmiri wazwan tradition; served at Jammu's Kesar Da Dhaba

Kaladi cheese

Jammu's unique cow-milk cheese—a stretched-curd cheese similar to Italian provolone but produced in the Udhampur district; pan-fried in oil until golden and eaten with kashmiri chili and salt; available at Jammu's food markets; a Dogra delicacy outside all mainstream awareness

Ambal (pumpkin)

Jammu's distinctive tangy-sweet pumpkin preparation—pumpkin cooked with jaggery and tamarind until soft and slick; a Dogra sweet-sour preparation unique to the Jammu hills that appears nowhere else in India; a side dish at Dogri thali restaurants

Aloo dum

Kashmiri slow-cooked potato curry—small whole potatoes simmered in a deep, red yogurt-based sauce thickened with ground fennel and ginger; the signature vegetarian dish of Kashmiri wazwan; the Kashmiri version is smokier and more complex than Bengali dum aloo