Mayer: A Traditional Muharram Dish From Kashmir

At the start of the Islamic New Year, a milk-based rice pudding called mayer is prepared in Kashmir by the Sunnis and shared with their Shia neighbours.

Five years ago, I watched a video clip of the Islamic scholar, Sheikh Hamzah Yousuf, talk about the importance of intention while cooking. Understanding the relationship various communities have with food was profound for me. “In Buddhism, the chef in the monastery has to be enlightened, and in Islamic tradition, there is a whole tradition of cooking is tied to the intention of the cook. My teachers, those who cook, always made the intention for food to be healing. In Arab culture, they say Sahwul Afiya before tucking into a meal - ‘with health and wellbeing,’” he explains. 

Cooking with Intention

Since then, I have begun to pause for a moment, to set purpose in my heart, before I begin cooking. “Let this food be healing to those who eat it.” When I am angry or going through a difficult time, I try not to pass on the negativity, and offer something that is prepared with goodness.

Korean Buddhist chef and nun, Beop Song talks about intention, explaining that prayers are poured into food during the preparation of temple food in Korea. One guideline while learning to cook temple food, is to keep the environment, ingredients and one’s mind clean. “Once my teacher refused to eat the food I had prepared, because it was poisoned by my anger,” she said. 

Outside the local shrines in Kashmir, and often on the roadside, or market places, people distribute tehri or taher (rice prepared with turmeric, salt, fried onion and mustard oil). My mother usually prepares this fragrant golden rice on Fridays, or when someone in the family is sick, or if she had a bad dream on a particular night. In short, as a way to ward off evil. This practice is deeply rooted in Kashmiri culture, across all religions. 

Another such dish from Kashmir, which is prepared with beautiful intention for the community is mayer or doodh waegre (rice milk pudding with salt). Since I come from the countryside, I know this dish by the name mayer, while in Srinagar and the adjoining districts, it is called doodh weagre. 

In Remembrance of Karbala

Mayer is prepared during the first ten days of Muharram — the first month of the Islamic calendar, that also marks the tragedy of Karbala. Usually, mayer is prepared by the Kashmiri sunnis in remembrance of Karbala martyrs. But people point out various other reasons for making it too. My mother used to say that in the tragedy of Karbala, children were massacred as well and it is in remembrance of those children that this milk-based rice pudding is prepared.

Others in the Sunni community believe that as the Shia community mourns the Karbala massacre during Muharram, a rice pudding which is simple and not spicy or savoury is offered to them.

In the book, the Anthropology of Eating by Peter Farb and George Armelagos, the authors write about how eating practices are culturally important in bringing people together. ‘The English word ‘companion’ is derived from French and Latin words that mean ‘one who eats bread with another.’ 

Farooq Ahmed from Sunni community is offering sweetened milk to mourners
Image credit: Fouziya Tehzeeb

The Role of Food in Building Community

This eating or sharing of food builds human relationships. I remember seeing my aunt taking a big vat of mayer to the main meeting point in the village and calling all the children. The kids would run to their homes to bring plates to eat the pudding, the air filled with the warm and sweet smell of cumin and coconut. Making a circle, the children would gather together to share their plates of mayer. Sometimes, siblings would share a plate, sometimes friends. A few children would make the extra effort of getting spoons. Others would use their fingers. Once they were done, the plates would be washed in the flowing stream before they rushed back home. 

Earlier, the Sunni community would distribute mayer in Shia neighbourhoods. Living in a Shia neighbourhood, my friend Mahoor's grandmother remembers the days when her relatives used to visit their home on Ashoora (10th day of Muharram) to witness the processions by Shias. Throughout the day, kehwa was served to guests. Mayer and sharbet was distributed to mourners on street.

The rice is cooked with water until it is soft

However, the tradition of preparing mayer has disappeared these days. Now, I rarely see children eating it or Sunnis distributing it. And now, when my mother makes it, instead of sharing it with passersby, like she used to in  Srinagar,  she saves a portion for the birds, spreading it out on the grass. 

Today, as I prepare  mayer, I remember the martyred kids of Karbala and set my intention: 'Let our children be always safe in this world, and fly high in the skies like the birds that will eat this mayer'. 

Recipe: Kashmiri Mayer or Rice Pudding

Ingredients
Intention in your heart 
1 cup rice 
10 cups water
1 litre milk
2 tsp cumin 
I cup dry coconut pieces  
Salt 

Method
Rinse the rice and soak it in enough water overnight. If the weather is hot, keep it in the refrigerator to avoid fermentation. 
Don't drain the water. 
Cook the rice and pound it with a ladle until it becomes soft and mushy but not thick and paste-like.
Add boiled milk to it and keep stirring. Continue cooking until the rice is cooked. Add the coconut pieces, saving a few for garnish. 
Add a teaspoon or two of roasted cumin seeds and add salt, as per your taste. Garnish with more coconut scraps.

Fouziya Tehzeeb has worked in the social development sector for the last 4 years in different capacities. Currently, she practices mindfulness-based listening she offers one-on-one listening spaces and facilitates group listening sessions.

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