President Droupadi Murmu hosted Swiss Confederation President Guy Parmelin and First Lady Caroline Parmelin for a banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan, serving a menu inspired by the culinary traditions of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The dinner brought together regional ingredients, traditional preparations and lesser-known dishes from the Himalayan regions, creating a menu that included everything from wild nettle soup and lotus-stem kebabs to Kashmiri pulao, saffron desserts and traditional teas.
The meal drew on ingredients associated with Ladakh, including sea buckthorn, apricot, wild nettle, yak cheese and barley, while Kashmiri flavours were represented through saffron, morels, lotus stem and aromatic spices. The menu described Himalayan cuisine as being shaped by resourcefulness, refinement and respect for seasonal produce, drawing a parallel with food traditions associated with the Swiss Alps. The first course, Za Thuk, was a Ladakhi wild nettle soup prepared with winter peas and roasted millet pearls and served with assorted breads.
The banquet then moved through a series of regional preparations highlighting cheese, street food and traditional cooking techniques. Labo-Na Tsonma combined Ladakhi labo and chhurpi with Jammu's kalari cheese, dried apple, walnuts and wild capers, accompanied by sea buckthorn and honey dressing. Appetisers included Kimb Chaat made with taro root, sweet potatoes and rice-flour crispies, Nadur Kebab with walnut chutney, and the Ladakhi Phorok Nangka, a charcoal-roasted whole-wheat dumpling filled with turnip greens and caper leaves.
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The main course placed a stronger focus on Kashmiri cuisine, featuring Chaman Qaliya, Haakh, Dum Olav and Tsok Wangun. The dishes included cottage cheese cooked in a milk and turmeric sauce, seasonal greens prepared with mustard oil and asafoetida, potatoes cooked with yoghurt and spices, and baby eggplant in a tangy sauce flavoured with cloves, ginger and fennel. Kana Gucch Pulao made with Kashmiri morels and whole spices was served alongside Mujj Chatni, Sheermal and Katlam breads.
Desserts brought together flavours from both regions, with Shufta combining dry dates, cashews, raisins and coconut, and Phirin offering a semolina and milk pudding flavoured with saffron, cardamom and dry fruits. The Ladakhi Phaymer featured roasted barley, jaggery and butter with Chura soft cheese, while fresh fruits completed the dessert course. Guests could also choose between Kashmiri Kahwa, traditional Ladakhi Gur Gur Chai or wild rose tea.
The banquet came during Parmelin's three-day State visit to India from October 5 to 7 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is his first State visit to India and his second trip to the country this year, following his participation in the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February. The dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan added a distinctly regional Indian culinary experience to the Swiss President's engagements during the visit.
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