Got apricots? Make Kargil’s xsamik chutney
Made from the kernels of sweet apricots, xsamik is Kargil’s little-known apricot chutney - eaten on its own or with any dish - the making of which sends neighbourhoods into a festive spirit.
On the festive morning of Eid, Zareena Bano, a class XII student, rushed to a nearby orchard, as soon as she learnt that her grandfather would be coming. She picked a handful of ripe apricots that had fallen on the ground.
She separated the yellow fleshy part of the fruit from the stones. This teen from Shilkchay village in the Kargil district wanted to make xsamik, a popular local dish, for her grandfather.
“What better way to welcome my grandpa than offering him a favourite food!” said Bano. “Like all of us here, he also likes it.”
True to Bano’s words, xsamik – made from the kernels of apricot – is an all-time favourite chutney in the local culture.
Welcoming the harvest season
Xsamik has a cultural legacy.
When the apricot harvest begins in July and August, the first celebration is the preparation of xsamik chutney.
“Since the fruit was ripe enough for harvest in my orchard, I invited my neighbours for a chutney feast,” said Haji Mohammad Abdullah, an apricot grower, while shifting the heavy xhig and xhigbo – mortar and pestle – from the house to an open space.
While everyone relishes xsamik chutney, traditionally it is the women from the neighbourhood who prepare it.
“Whenever xsamik is prepared to mark the harvest in the neighbourhood, I volunteer myself for its preparation. I really enjoy making the favourite chutney for scores of people at a time,” said Amina Bano from Shilkchay.
“While a couple of women prepare the popular chutney, the other women gather around. You can feel the festive atmosphere,” Amina Bano told Village Square.
What is xsamik chutney and how is it traditionally made?
Though most people in the land-locked region do have modern kitchen appliances, they prefer to make xsamik the traditional way. They do it manually, using a flat stone mortar and a palm-sized pestle.
After separating the apricot pulp from the apricot seed or stone, its shell is broken to reveal the sweet kernel inside.
“Since xsamik chutney is made from the kernel of sweet apricots, only a certain variety of apricot called nyarmo is used,” said Zareena Bano.
The intense process of grinding the kernels in a mortar results in a thick brownish paste. This is collected in a bowl and a pinch of minutely cut onion is added.
With that – the much loved xsamik chutney is ready to be served.
It works as an accompaniment to bread, pancakes made from barley flour or rice, or even as a separate dish on its own.
“While you can eat it with any food, like bread or rice, most people like to eat it with phapa, made from barley flour,” said Zareena Bano.
A food for all occasions – the happy and the sad
As everyone relished xsamik, Amina Bano said, “It’s not just about the food, it’s about the celebration related to food.”
The community might come together to prepare this Kargil specialty for the harvest season, but it is an all-occasion dish.
“The sweet chutney is used for all the important occasions ranging from marriages and birthday celebrations to religious gatherings,” Mohammad Ali, a school teacher, told Village Square. “We use it even during funeral gatherings.”
Xsamik chutney is an inseparable part of the langer, or community kitchens, held widely across the hilly region during Muharram processions.
Kargil’s culinary legacy
Experts believe that the popularity of xsamik in this hilly region is due to its geography.
According to Ali Mohammad, a sociologist from the University of Kashmir, the region used to remain cut off from the world for almost seven months a year because of harsh winters.
“During those months, people used local resources. Since apricots grow in abundance in many parts of the Kargil region, people make many delicacies. And xsamik is a popular one,” Ali Mohammad told Village Square.
Though the chutney is mostly consumed locally, some apricot growers have started commercial production.
Ghulam Abbass, an apricot grower of Hardas village, supplies hundreds of kilograms of chutney to the nearby markets.
As dried apricots and apricot oil from the Ladakh region are sold in the markets all over the country, xsamik can be a good source of income for people in this apricot belt.
The lead image at the top of this page shows apricot fruits, used for making xsamik chutney (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Nasir Yousufi is a journalist based at Srinagar.
