Srinagar: A Jammu businessman’s Kashmir special sun-dried fruits and vegetables are reshaping the culinary agenda in the country.
From sun-dried wild mushrooms to red delicious apples and from persimmon to berry, Deep sells several varieties and now has started receiving orders from all over the country.
“Right now, we are in the off-season as far as apples are concerned and if people want to relish the fruit in Jammu, they come to our shop. These sundried apples of Kashmir red delicious variety are available every season. Not only sundried delicious apples, but we also have sundried varieties of persimmon and other fruits. Our sun-dried berry varieties are very popular as well,” said Deep.
He said food bloggers were especially attracted to the ‘dingri’ (sun-dried mushrooms) at his shop that were procured from the Ganderbal and Sopore areas of Kashmir.
“We sell dingri for Rs. 1500 a kilo and this sundried mushroom variety attracts food bloggers and a certain class of people. It is our specialty. If you have it, its taste will make you forget non-vegetarian food. That is my guarantee!” said Deep.
“We are getting fresh mushrooms right now. This is the season of fresh mushrooms but our sun-dried ones will be available throughout the year,” he said.
Given the increase in demand, he said his store ‘Home-grown Nuts’ was now home delivering sun-dried mushrooms and fruits across the country.
Kashmir valley based food blogger Omar Rather of ‘Kashmirfoodgram’ fame said it was heartening that a businessman from Jammu had taken the lead in taking sun-dried fruits to a ‘next level’.
“Deep has taken his business to a next level at a time when the trend of using sun-dried fruits is on a decline in Kashmir. Nowadays, we only see ‘bum-tchoonth hatchi’ and ‘tangi-hatchi’ in the Kashmir markets mostly at Chrar-e-Sharif and these are not as popular now like before. These delicacies were in big demand once upon a time in Kashmir. But, Deep has several sundried varieties of fruits available from Kashmir and other places….and his ‘dingri’ is very special and loved by the food connoisseurs,” he said.
