All about a Penchant and Purpose for Assamese Cuisine

Kashmiri was the only North-Eastern contributor for Godrej Food Trends 2019 & 2020. She has also been the local host for the 'Assam Episode' of Times Network's 'India on a Plate' with Kubra Sait. She is a food consultant at Vivanta by Taj Guwahati. This is not all for Kashmiri has designed and developed recipes and menus and trained chefs at Guwahati's Gateway Grandeur Hotel, too. 

Born in Nagaon and educated in places across Assam and Darjeeling, Kashmiri Nath says that she had an idyllic childhood. "Small town girl that's what I am and big cities tend to overwhelm me even now," she states matter of factly.

Kashmiri Nath started her career alone from home, believing in herself and in her love for food. She has transformed Assamese Cuisine and has served it in fine dining restaurants at Star hotels in different cities in India. She has served dignitaries and celebrities and has worked with Assam Tourism on numerous occasions. She regularly contributes to food journals and is a jury member at some city-based food awards. After launching her brand and company KATA Food, she became one of few women food entrepreneurs in North-East India.

So how and when did her love for food start and how did she transform her culinary passion to a full-fledged vocation?

In her words, "I started pottering around pots and pans at a very young age. The kitchen was a very interesting and intriguing place for me. The sights and aromas always enthralled me."

She elaborates, "My father was a nature lover and a great storyteller and his stories hugely influenced my young mind. Looking back I realise how much of my father I have in me. His love for books, and good food and his innate curiosity has shaped me. And, my mother's eye for perfection and hard work has guided my life. Although, I have never been trained professionally or ever attended any Culinary school, I had and still do have some wonderful teachers and guides, who mentor me and encourage me in this journey as a chef and entrepreneur. Culinary books and cook books have been my biggest source of knowledge and now my experiences at commercial kitchen have taught me the finer nuances about food, cooking techniques and food trends."

Kashmiri says that her love for food and food history

(since she is a student of history) has helped her to view food in a much deeper way. "I understood how it impacts us and also how culture and economy affect our food heritage," she shares.

Talking about her professional journey, Kashmiri says, "Almost a decade ago my passion took a professional turn. From being a home chef, I ventured into the professional world of cooking. It wasn't easy but it was exhilarating and fulfilling. Cooking is a continuous process of learning and understanding. It is an attempt to juxtapose the traditional with the new. Our Assamese cuisine, until recent times was not very popular or known to people outside the North East. It was then that I realised the sheer opportunity of popularizing the cuisine. After all it is a cuisine which is full of flavour, healthy and gluten free by default! The beauty of Assamese cuisine lies in its simplicity."

According to Kashmiri her first experience of curating, hosting an Assamese Food Festival at Marriott Hotel, Hyderabad way back in 2016, was a learning experience and very humbling. "People of Hyderabad truly loved our food and we had a brilliant festival. It took us several months to create a menu, which served authentic Assamese food, without tampering the flavours in a fine dining space. Replete with appetizers, mains and desserts it was actually such a wonderful learning process. It takes immense meticulous work and thought process to create a good menu," she says and remembers, "We had 'Pura Maasor Khorika' served with Kharoli as an appetizer and 'Bhaat Kerela Bor' served with pineapple chutney flavored with bhoot jolokia, among a host of other mouth watering innovations. We actually had so much fun innovating and the guests had such an amazing experience eating Assamese food. We flew in all the ingredients from here and our 'Jolphai meetha achar' was a great hit too.

Since, her first Assamese Food Festival, Kashmiri has hosted Assamese Festivals at Trident Hotel BKC, Mumbai, Novotel Hotel, Hyatt Regency Pune, Mustard Mumbai and each one has been successful and very well recieved. "I am probably the first Home chef from Assam to do food festivals in star hotels. I feel truly blessed with all the appreciation and how the diners are absolutely blown away with our food," she shares.

Kashmiri was the only North-Eastern contributor for Godrej Food Trends 2019 & 2020. She has also been the local host for the 'Assam Episode' of Times Network's 'India on a Plate' with Kubra Sait. She is a food consultant at Vivanta by Taj Guwahati. This is not all for Kashmiri has designed and developed recipes and menus and trained chefs at Guwahati's Gateway Grandeur Hotel, too.

Kashmiri has organised the official dinner for Priyanka Chopra by Assam Tourism and organised the official high-tea for International Tourism Mart at Shillong. Incidentally she has curated and hosted over a hundred pop-ups across India.

When Saturday Fare asked her for a few words to inspire the youngsters who want to embark on professional careers in the culinary field, she says, "My advice to anyone who works in this field is to do through research and learn as much as possible. It is very important to respect your own culinary heritage and take it forward."

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