From Nadur Kebab to Gur Gur Chai: Inside President Droupadi Murmu’s Kashmir-Ladakh feast for Swiss President Parmelin

President Droupadi Murmu hosted Swiss Confederation President Guy Parmelin and First Lady Caroline Parmelin to a special banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening, with a menu that brought together traditional flavours and lesser-known dishes from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The dinner came after Parmelin’s luncheon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 5. The banquet menu drew on the culinary traditions of the Himalayan regions, using ingredients such as sea buckthorn, apricot, wild nettle, yak cheese and barley from Ladakh, along with saffron, morels, lotus stem and fragrant spices from Kashmir.

The menu described the Himalayan ranges as having fostered a cuisine rooted in "resourcefulness, refinement, and respect for seasonal produce" — much like the Swiss Alps.

From wild nettle soup to Ladakhi cheese

The meal began with Za Thuk, a Ladakhi wild nettle soup made with winter peas and roasted millet pearls. It was served with assorted breads.

The salad course, Labo-Na Tsonma, highlighted the cheese-making traditions of Ladakh and Jammu. It combined labo and chhurpi from Ladakh with kalari from Jammu, along with dried apple, walnuts and wild capers. The salad was dressed with sea buckthorn and honey and served with buckwheat and foxtail crackers, Ladakhi chuli (apricot) jam and a yoghurt dip with skotse, or wild garlic chives.

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Jammu and Ladakh street food on the menu

The appetisers brought together traditional dishes and street-food influences from the two regions.

Kimb Chaat, described as a street-food delicacy from Jammu, featured boiled taro root and sweet potatoes with rice-flour crispies, sweetened yoghurt, tamarind sauce and starfruit.

The menu also featured Nadur Kebab with Dooyn Chetin. The dish consisted of lotus-stem patties seasoned with aromatic Kashmiri spices and served with walnut chutney.

From Ladakh came Phorok Nangka, a charcoal-roasted whole-wheat 'mok mok' dumpling stuffed with turnip greens and caper leaves. It was served with tomato-onion relish.

Kashmiri flavours dominated the main course

The main course featured several well-known Kashmiri preparations.

Chaman Qaliya consisted of delicately spiced cottage cheese cooked in a milk and turmeric sauce. It was followed by Haakh, seasonal collard greens stewed with mustard oil and asafoetida.

The menu also included Dum Olav, potatoes cooked with yoghurt, dry ginger, fennel and other aromatic spices, and Tsok Wangun, baby eggplant cooked in a tangy sauce flavoured with cloves, ginger and fennel powder.

For rice, guests were served Kana Gucch Pulao, a fragrant pulao made with Kashmiri morels and whole spices. It came with Mujj Chatni, a preparation of white radish with freshly churned yoghurt, along with Sheermal and Katlam breads.

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Desserts brought Kashmir and Ladakh together

The dessert course included Shufta, made with stewed dry dates, cashew nuts, raisins and coconut and garnished with poppy seeds.

There was also Phirin, a semolina and milk pudding flavoured with saffron, cardamom and dry fruits.

The distinctly Ladakhi dessert on the menu was Phaymer, made with roasted barley, jaggery and butter and served with Chura soft cheese. Fresh fruits rounded off the dessert course.

Kahwa, butter tea and wild rose tea

The beverages also stayed rooted in the Himalayan theme.

Guests could choose Kahwa, the Kashmiri tea flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron, or Gur Gur Chai, the traditional butter tea from Ladakh. Wild rose tea was also served.

Parmelin is in India on a three-day State visit from October 5 to 7, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is his first State visit to India and his second visit to the country this year, following his participation in the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February.