Leh Ladakh - Jammu and Kashmir Culture, Food ...

Leh Ladakh -  Jammu and Kashmir.

Leh is a town in the Leh district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace in Tibet - the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamshala, India, during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Leh is at an altitude of 3,524 metres (11,562 ft), and is connected via National Highway 1 to Srinagar in the southwest and to Manali in the south via the Leh-Manali Highway. In 2010, Leh was heavily damaged by the sudden floods caused by a cloud burst.


Leh
City
The ruined Royal Palace at Leh
Leh is located in Jammu and KashmirLehLeh
Coordinates: 34°08′43.43″N 77°34′03.41″ECoordinates: 34°08′43.43″N 77°34′03.41″E
Country     India
State    Jammu and Kashmir
District    Leh
Deputy Commissioner    Avny Lavasa, IAS
Area
 • Total    45,110 km2 (17,420 sq mi)
Elevation    3,500 m (11,500 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total    30,870
 • Density    0.68/km2 (1.8/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official   
Urdu
 • Spoken   
Ladakhi, Hindi, English[1]
Time zone    IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration    JK 10
Website    leh.gov.in
Leh is a town in the Leh district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace in Tibet - the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamshala, India, during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Leh is at an altitude of 3,524 metres (11,562 ft), and is connected via National Highway 1 to Srinagar in the southwest and to Manali in the south via the Leh-Manali Highway. In 2010, Leh was heavily damaged by the sudden floods caused by a cloud burst.

History

Leh (Hindi: लेह; Tibetan alphabet: གླེ་, Wylie: Gle) was an important stopover on trade routes along the Indus Valley between Tibet to the east, Kashmir to the west and also between India and China for centuries. The main goods carried were salt, grain, pashm or cashmere wool, charas or cannabis resin from the Tarim Basin, indigo, silk yarn and Banaras brocade.

Although there are a few indications that the Chinese knew of a trade route through Ladakh to India as early as the Kushan period (1st to 3rd centuries CE), and certainly by Tang dynasty,[3] little is actually known of the history of the region before the formation of the kingdom towards the end of the 10th century by the Tibetan prince, Skyid lde nyima gon (or Nyima gon), a grandson of the anti-Buddhist Tibetan king, Langdarma (r. c. 838 to 841). He conquered Western Tibet although his army originally numbered only 300 men. Several towns and castles are said to have been founded by Nyima gon and he apparently ordered the construction of the main sculptures at Shey. "In an inscription he says he had them made for the religious benefit of the Tsanpo (the dynastical name of his father and ancestors), and of all the people of Ngaris (Western Tibet). This shows that already in this generation Langdarma's opposition to Buddhism had disappeared." Shey, just 15 km east of modern Leh, was the ancient seat of the Ladakhi kings.

Foods To Try In Leh Ladakh

Cheese from Yak’s milk (Chhupri)
Tigmo
Butter Tea
Momos
Thukpa
Thenktuk
Mokthuk
Qahwa
Kulcha
Langar

Cheese from Yak’s milk (Chhupri)

While traveling to parts of Ladakh, you will come across Yaks, you will click pictures and probably take rides on them.

But have you ever thought of trying cheese made of Yak milk?

Weird?

Well, probably for some people, but when in Leh please do not miss on trying out “Chhupri”.

Locals do not understand it when you say Yak cheese, they understand the local term for it “Chhupri”.

Preparation of Yak Cheese from Yak Milk

Chhupri is easily available in the main market area, where vendors even sell it on the roadside street shops. They are available in three flavors: Sweet, salty and plain. The cheese is pretty hard and looks like calcium deposits. It is difficult to bite down on bigger pieces of the cheese, so better buy a pack of smaller pieces.

Do note that some places feel that the cheese smells a bit Yak-ish, though I did not feel it. But when in Leh, you just cannot afford to miss this!

Tigmo (pronounced Teemo)

 

We did not go looking for this dish, unlike the Chhupri. We just went into a local restaurant in Leh main market, asked for a local dish and were offered the “Tigmo”. It is a form of fermented and steamed bread, served with a veg/non-veg stew.

The bread itself is very soft and fluffy and goes very well with the lightly flavoured stew. Although we went in for a snack, repeat orders of the delicious Tigmo converted it to a full dinner.

Butter Tea

 

Since the day we started planning a trip to Leh, I had decided on trying Butter Tea in Leh. But on reaching Leh, I couldn’t find it anywhere!

I tried hard until the last day but had to give up. Then the last night our hotel owner told us he was serving us special home-made tea and I realised that it was the butter tea I was so desperately looking for. Our host then explained to us that this tea is generally made at home and not served in restaurants. The tea looks pink and tastes salty. He explained why the tea is made with butter and salt. The butter helps keep lips from getting chapped in the harsh cold weather and the salt helps to stay away from altitude sickness.

He also showed us the special wooden apparatus that is used to churn butter for the tea and is available in all Leh homes.

Momos

 

It is a crime to not taste momos while you are in Leh. The momos are available in various shapes, one of which according to our driver is shaped like a rat

Thukpa

It is a Tibetan soup. Due to the Tibetan influence in Leh, Thukpa is quite popular in Leh. It is a clear soup with lots of vegetables. Comfort food for cold temperatures of Leh.

Thenktuk

This a version of the Thukpa. In addition to the vegetables this soup consists of noodles as well. In cold temperatures, you would love to gorge on hot soups and this variation is quite good.

Mokthuk

Looking for some momo as well as soup? Mokthuk is for you. It is a Tibetan soup consisting of momos and vegetables. The goodness of momos and warm soup covered in one.

Qahwa

 

Although we hear of Qahwa more in the Kashmir region, it is in fact, an essential drink in Leh. The day we landed in Leh, we were asked by our host to drink Qahwa throughout the day in small quantities.

It contains saffron and cinnamon that help keep the body warm. If you are planning to buy Qahwa to take back home, the local grocery shops stock only two brands: King’s and Kanwal. These are ready to make Qahwa powder brands.

Kulcha

 

This is a kind of bun, which is very unlike what we know as Kulcha in North India. It is a hard bun that the locals eat with qahwa or tea.

Langar

 

The langar served at Gurudwara Pathar Sahib is food for the soul. I have never had such tasty rajma in my life. The most amazing thing is that the Gurudwara cooks in such huge volumes and still manages to keep it so homely.

We saw numerous army trucks lined up outside the Gurudwara and army men kept pouring in during lunch hour. It looked as if they routinely came here for lunch.

The langar area at Gurudawara Pathar Sahib, Leh

Mouth-watering eh? Leh has some amazing stay options too, in case you are eager to pay a visit and try the Ladakhi cuisine yourself. Do plan a trip soon. Life, as we know it, is very short, and the more you travel, the better.

During the reign of Delegs Namgyal (1660–1685), the Nawab of Kashmir, which was then a province in the Mughal Empire, arranged for the Mongol army to (temporarily) leave Ladakh (though it returned later). As payment for assisting Delegs Namgyal in the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal war of 1679–1684, the Nawab made a number of onerous demands. One of the least was to build a large Sunni Muslim mosque in Leh at the upper end of the bazaar in Leh, below the Leh Palace. The mosque reflects a mixture of Islamic and Tibetan architecture and can accommodate more than 500 people. This was apparently not the first mosque in Leh; there are two smaller ones which are said to be older.