Srinagar, Nov 27: At a time when people are more inclined towards fast foods, a young girl from Srinagar is working to revive Kashmir’s age-old food traditions, which indeed has brought her laurels on social media sites.
In 2015, when Fozia Rasool joined college she developed a passion towards food and photography. To follow her passion a few years later in 2021, her interest grew more as she started informing people about traditional Kashmiri foods.
“Apart from Wazwan, there are a number of food varieties that were liked by the people in the Valley but the younger generation has no knowledge about these foods. Now I have started this small initiative to revive those foods,” she said.
Fozia’s Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube channel consist of numerous videos exploring delicious food places with detailed reviews of that particular eatery. With a whopping 40 thousand plus followers, her journey over 18 months have been truly inspiring.
“I made a video on Tosha which is among the forgotten traditional delicacies in the valley. Its roots can be drawn from the Sufi culture of Kashmir Valley. It was widely appreciated by people,” Fozia said.
Other varieties, she featured include Yaji (winter delicacy made from walnuts and rice flour), TomleChoet, Kashmiri Rumah Dal, Tosha, AluMunja, DoudGaande, Basrakh (dessert specially made during marriages), Mayer (DoudWeagre), KhandGaziri, etc.
Fozia says she is on a mission to preserve Kashmir’s indigenous food culture by making local recipes to reach out to a wider audience. “From traditional dishes to snacks to sweet dishes, I cover almost all everyday food,” she said.
The young food blogger says there are some foods that are culturally rich and have high nutrient value as compared to fast foods. “There is no alternative to Kashmir’s street foods and despite technological evolution, there is still a large chunk of people who love to taste them,” she said.
“In a short span of time, people have appreciated my content about traditional foods. Even I got calls and messages from people about food. For the past several months, it is my routine to upload one short video on any traditional food on social media,” she said.
Fozia said apart from her family, there are so many people and followers who are always there to support her. “But when you truly follow something with your heart there’s nothing impossible,” she said.
“Mostly people prefer reels over long formats of videos but I post both formats. I am getting good response from food lovers across the Valley,” the young engineering student, Fozia said.
Interestingly Fozia brings every possible variety to the screen but she has never shown her face there while vlogging the food varieties. People just know him by her voice only.
She feels more responsible towards her viewers to bring in more authentic and interesting ideas. She has received overwhelming responses from the world over, especially from Kashmiri Diaspora.
Fozia says she makes sure that the recipe she makes is easily communicated to her audience. Her target is to preserve the forgotten or lost food traditions of Kashmir.
“I am trying my level best to improve my content each day. From shooting to advanced editing, I am managing it single-handedly, “she said.
About the message for young content creators, Fozia said there are no shortcuts to success and they should work hard and keep going.
“They should be true to themselves and their work. Focus on your desire to learn things that can improve your life, that can stimulate your passion, and give you the energy to learn more, Fozia said.
Follow FoziaRasool at Instagram(foziagrasool)
