The history of modern Kashmiri cuisine can be traced back to the fifteenth century invasion of India by Timur, and the migration of 1700 skilled woodcarvers, weavers, architects, calligraphers and cooks from Samarkand to the valley of Kashmir. The descendants of these cooks, the Wazas, are the master chefs of Kashmir.

The ultimate formal banquet in Kashmir is the royal Wazwan. Of its thirty-six courses, between fifteen and thirty can be preparations of meat, cooked overnight by the master chef, Vasta Waza, and his retinue of wazas. Guests are seated in groups of four and share the meal out of a large metal plate called the trami.

The meal begins with a ritual washing of hands at a basin called the tash-t-nari, which is taken around by attendants. Then the tramis arrive, heaped with rice, quartered by four seekh kababs and contains four pieces of methi korma, one tabak maaz, one safed murg, one zafrani murg, and the first few courses. Curd and chutney are served seperately in small earthen pots. As each trami is completed, it is removed, and a new one brought in, until the dinner has run its course. Seven dishes are a must for these occassions-- Rista, Rogan Josh, Tabak Maaz, Daniwal Korma, Aab Gosht, Marchwangan Korma and Gushtaba. The meal ends with the Gushtaba.

Traditional Kashmiri cooking is called Wazhawan and comprises mostly of non-vegetarian dishes. It is rich and aromatic with a wonderful flavour unique to Kashmiri cuisine. Most Kashmiris including the Brahmins (Kashmiri Pandits) are meat eaters. The cuisine of the state is characterised by three different styles of cooking — the Kashmiri Pandit, the Muslims and the Rajput styles. Though they eat meat, surprisingly, many traditional Kashmiri Pandits don't include garlic and onion to their cooking.

One of the distinct features of Kashmiri cuisine is the generous use of curds in the gravies, giving the dishes a creamy consistency. The Kashmiris also use asafoetida to flavour their meat dishes. Saunf (aniseed) and dry ginger are other spices used imaginatively to enhance the taste. For instance some dishes get their pungency not from chillies, but from dry ginger. Other dishes have no spice except may be a little saunf added to them for flavour.

Being the home of saffron, the colourful flavouring agent is used in the pulaos and sweets. Walnuts, almonds and raisins are also added to the curries. Ghee is the medium of cooking, probably because the fat is required to impart heat to the body, though mustard oil is also used. Some of the better known dishes are yakhni, tabaq naat, which is an exotic dish made of fried ribs and decorated with silver varq, dum aloo, rogan josh, gaustaba which is a light meatball, haleem which is meat pounded with wheat, etc.