Aab Gosh

A ab Gosh, Aabgosh, or Aab Gosht is a part of Kashmir’s famous Wazwan—a meal with between seven and 36 items from the Kashmiri cuisine. Made most popularly of lamb meat, the Wazwan is incomplete without the Aab Gosh, carved from the sheep’s lower back. It’s a single, large meat chunk that is slow-cooked in milk till it becomes tender. Cloves sauteed in ghee are added to complement the flavour. The dish is a display of culinary craftsmanship since roughly 10 litres of milk is reduced to one, and then added to the meat, resulting in a rich, indulgent dish.

To make Aab Gosh, one needs milk, cardamom, cloves, mace, salt, fennel powder, ginger powder, crushed garlic, mutton, brown onion paste, pepper powder, ghee, and water.

Although Kashmiri cuisine has several influences, its Aab Gosh is distinctly different from the Persian Abgoosht or Dizi, which is akin to a soup thickened with chickpeas. The ingredients are cooked together and then the dish is strained. The solids are mashed and served as part of the main course, but as a separate dish, with bread or roti. It has been cooked in Persia for thousands of years, handed down from one generation to the next, with each family recipe being slightly different.