An Informational PORTAL For Jammu & Kashmir   

There are only two or three places in the whole world where saffron grows. Kashmir has the proud privilege of being one of these places. There are two locations in Kashmir where saffron grows. One of these two places is Pampur. Pampur is a small town, which is 13 km from Srinagar. The saffron plant is very small and its flower is the only part which is seen above the ground. The blooming time of this flower is autumn. Saffron has a unique sweet smell and is used in dyeing and cooking.
The botanical name of Saffron is Crocus sativus. The purple colored flowers appear just above the ground and are a beautiful sight. The orange stigmas of the saffron plant are harvested as saffron and used as a flavoring and coloring agent in various recipes. Saffron is added to Kahwa - the traditional Saffron Tea drunk by people in Kashmir.
The orange-red stigmas of the saffron plant produce a pleasant aroma and a warm golden orange color. The yellow stamens are also harvested, however they do not have the same aromatic and color properties of the stigmas. Pure saffron consists of only the orange-red stigmas of the saffron plant. Saffron is also believed to have many medicinal properties. Called Kesar in the rest of India, saffron is used as a flavoring agent in many food preparations, from rice dishes, such as biryani, to various sweets.

SAFFRON: purple-flowered saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, a bulbous perennial of the iris family (Iridaceae) treasured for its golden-coloured, pungent stigmas, which are dried and used to flavour and colour foods and as a dye. Saffron is named among the sweet-smelling herbs in Song of Solomon 4:14. It has a strong, exotic aroma and a bitter taste. It is used to colour and flavour many Mediterranean and Oriental dishes, particularly rice and fish, and English, Scandinavian, and Balkan breads. It is an important ingredient in bouillabaisse.
A golden-coloured, water-soluble fabric dye was distilled from saffron stigmas in India in ancient times. Shortly after Buddha died, his priests made saffron the official colour for their robes. The dye has been used for royal garments in several cultures.
As a perfume, saffron was strewn in Greek and Roman halls, courts, theatres, and baths; it became especially associated with the hetaerae, a professional class of Greek courtesans. The streets of Rome were sprinkled with saffron when Nero made his entry into the city.
Believed native to the Mediterranean area, Asia Minor, and Iran, the saffron crocus has long been cultivated in Iran and Kashmir and is supposed to have been introduced into Cathay by the Mongol invasion. It is mentioned in the Chinese materia medica (Pun tsaou, 1552-78). In early times, however, the chief seat of cultivation was in Cilicia, in Asia Minor. It was cultivated by the Arabs in Spain about 961 and is mentioned in an English leechbook, or healing manual, of the 10th century but may have disappeared from western Europe until reintroduced by the crusaders. During various periods, saffron has been worth much more than its weight in gold; it is still the most expensive spice in the world.
Saffron is cultivated chiefly in Spain, France, Sicily, Italy (on the lower spurs of the Apennines Range), and in Iran, and Kashmir. The three stigmas are handpicked from each flower, spread on trays, and dried over charcoal fires for use as a food flavouring and colouring. A pound (0.45 kilogram) of saffron represents 75,000 blossoms. Saffron contains 0.5 to 1 percent essential oil, the principal component of which is picrocrocin. The colouring matter is crocin.
SAFFRON : KASHMIR is full of its natural and noble products.SAFFRON is the one, which is said to be a cash crop of Kashmir . The origin of the word SAFFRON seems to be from ZAFFRON - in Arabic for the plant.In Kashmir, it is famous as "KONG". Botanically, Saffron (Crocus Satiuius) belongs to a family of Iridacaee, a group of crocus.
In Kashmir, Saffron has been grown since centuries and is cultivated on a commercial scale in the vast field in the Karewa lands of Pampore. A visit to the place during October and November months when the flowers have just emerged out of the ground is a marvelous and unique sight to watch and to be remembered for the whole life.
SAFFRON `A Vegetable Gold' is unique product with a rich combination of its main constituents: -
Glycoside Crocine: has strong coloring capacity.
Glycoside Picrocrocine: gives bitter flavor and aromatic odour.
Different Essential Oils: important one being Safranal
Saffron plant is a small perennial herb with globular corms which attain a size of about 4 to 5 cm in diameter at maturity propagation of the Saffron plant is through corms. The germinating corms usually give out 6 to 9 narrow needle like reddish orange stigma surrounded by 4 or 5 embraneous, violet mauve scale.
Saffron has been widely used throughout the world due to its innumerable effect on the human body. Saffron is mainly used as a medicine, as a dye, as a spice, and as a perfume.
In Kashmir it is widely used in Wazwan and owes its super excellence largely and began to be rewarded as prestigious. It is also used in Qahwa, to which it adds its golden color due to its coloring property and makes it tastier.
Saffron with fascinating fragrance, pleasant flavor and beautiful color is used in all the dishes of Pullao, Rice, Noodles, Biryani, curries, Vegetables, Chickens, Mutton, Fishes, Ice creams, Sweets, Bakery etc to make the dishes more tasty and digestive.
Add Saffron during the last minute of cooking.
Medicinal Properties Of Saffron: 
Saffron: The world over awakening and taking a closer look at the medicinal qualities of Saffron.
Saffron : a leading agent has a quality of medicinal properties which include:
In small dozes it is reported act as sedative, relieves congestion of chest, clams cough and preserves the lungs.
It is used as medicine to stimulate the actions of stomach and stimulates the appetite.
It is used to relieve spasm, used in fever, mental disorder( hysteria ), asthma etc.
It is good remedy for uterus problems to facilitate the pregnancies and also assists the of menstrual fluid and helps to induce abortion.

Saffron plant is a small perennial herb with globular corms which attain a size of about 4 to 5 cm in diameter at maturity. Propagation of the Saffron plant is through corms. The germinating corms usually give out 6 to 9 narrow needle like reddish orange stigma surrounded by 4 or 5 embraneous, violet mauve scale.
Saffron has been widely used throughout the world due to its innumerable effect on the human body. Saffron is mainly used as a medicine, as a dye, as a spice, and as a perfume.
In Kashmir it is widely used in Wazwan THUS owing its super excellence largely to it, and hence began to be rewarded as prestigious. It is also used in Qahwa, to which it adds its golden color due to its coloring property and makes it tastier. Saffron with fascinating fragrance, pleasant flavour and beautiful colour is used in all the dishes of Pulao, Rice, Noodles, Biryani, curries, Vegetables, Chickens, Mutton, Fishes, Ice creams, Sweets, Bakery etc to make the dishes more tasty and digestive.
We offers the best quality Saffron which is another word of purity (Kashmir™ SAFFRON) in an attractive packing. Our company challenges the person who will prove our saffron impure, the same person will be rewarded as per his or her wish.
We offer the following :
Saffron Mongra Red Filament Long Cut A Grade Coupe
Packing : ¼ Gram, ½ Gram, 1 Gram, 5 Gram, 10 Gram, 25 Gram sealed in cellophane plastic boxes. Bulk packing also available.

Kashmir™ Walnut Kernels are of true Himalayan taste with longer life, deliciously delightful and palatable with crunchy taste with highest standard of quality of production. It is used for baking, confection and snack food, Grocery trade and food industry. A Composition of balanced proteins, carbohydrates, fats vitamins & trace elements.
Walnut Kernels from Kashmir Mart are quality controlled, packed with a perfection to meet your taste and expectation. Our company offers goods round the year and most important is that cracking of walnuts is done in our own factory under our control so that we can always supply fresh cracked kernels to our valuable customers whose satisfaction is our motive. Our company is rather the only company in Jammu & Kashmir where cracking of walnuts is done round the year for which our company has employed 958 skilled labours who do the cracking and fortunately the climate of Kashmir is perfect for walnut kernels and our goods are always as fresh as new crop. Ours is the only company which is based in Kashmir valley which is the origin of walnuts. Our company exports nearly 1200 to 1500 metric tons yearly.

So why you should miss the opportunity when our company stands guaranteed for the following :
1. Quality True, Loyal and Merchantable to the satisfaction of our customers
2. Product Free from Foreign matters
3. Goods from fresh cracking
4. Organic as well as Bio Walnut Kernels
5. Prices as per market
6. Nitrogen flushed vacuum packing
7. Packing to with stand normal handling

Packing :
5 Kgs x 2 Vacuum pouches with nitrogen flushed
250 Gram, ½ Kg, 1 Kg retail packing also available for Extra Light Halves and Light Halves.

ALMONDS: (Prunus dulcis), tree native to southwestern Asia and its edible seed, or nut. The nuts are of two types, sweet and bitter. Sweet almonds are the familiar edible type consumed as nuts and used in cooking or as a source of almond oil or almond meal.
The almond tree, growing somewhat larger than the peach and living longer, is strikingly beautiful when in flower. The growing fruit resembles the peach until it approaches maturity; as it ripens, the leathery outer covering, or hull, splits open, curls outward, and discharges the nut.
The sweet almond is cultivated extensively in certain favourable regions between 28and 48N and between 20and 40S. The tree greatly resembles the related peach, with which it occasionally hybridizes. While dormant, it is nearly as hardy as the peach, although ordinarily flowering earlier, from late January to early April north of the Equator. The nut crops are therefore uncertain wherever frosts are likely to occur during the period of flowering. Sweet almonds mature only occasionally in climates like that of southern England.
The Old World almond cultivation was characterized by small plantings mainly for family use; trees interplanted with other crops; variability in age, condition, and bearing capacity of individual trees; and hand labour, often with crude implements. Modern growers pay more attention than they once did to propagation of approved varieties. Jordan and Valencia almonds come from Spain. Leading exporting countries of shelled almonds during the late 1970s were the U.S., Spain, Italy, Iran, Portugal, and Morocco.
Bitter almonds, as inedible as peach kernels, contain about 50 percent of a fixed oil that also occurs in the sweet almond, together with an enzyme called emulsin, which in the presence of water yields glucose, prussic (hydrocyanic) acid, and the essential oil of bitter almonds called benzaldehyde. When the prussic acid has been removed, the oil of bitter almonds is used in the manufacture of flavouring extracts for foods and liqueurs.
Almonds provide small amounts of protein, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and B vitamins and are high in fat. They may be eaten raw, blanched, or roasted and are commonly used in confectionery baking. In Europe a sweetened paste made from almonds is used in pastries and in marzipan, a traditional candy. The almond is also widely used in meat, poultry, fish, and vegetarian dishes of Asia.

Morels are the most delicious of all natural herbal foods, sprouting naturally from soil under suitable moderate temperature and moist conditions in cedar forests of Kashmir Pir Panchal range of Himalayas, with high Organic matter and shades of hard woods. They are non- poisonous non irritating and with no allergic conditions.

The Morels duly graded, tested and certified by our company experts are offered in bulk packing as well as in consumer packing with high quality standard. While processing the goods under our strict control the most important care we take is the SATISFACTION OUR CUSTOMERS. Our company handles nearly 70 percent of total Morels export from the Jammu and Kashmir State. We stand guaranteed for the following :-) 1. Quality True, Loyal and Merchantable to the satisfaction of our customers 2. Free from Foreign matters 3. Goods from fresh cracking 4. Organic as well as Bio Morels 5. Prices as per market 6. Packing to with stand normal handling

Our company offers the following grades :
Morels Special Morels Standard Morels Extra Morels Broken Industrial Morels Verpa Tail
Packing : ½ Kg, 1 Kg, 10 Kgs

Fruit of the genus Malus (about 25 species) belonging to the family Rosaceae, the most widely cultivated tree fruit. The apple is one of the pome (fleshy) fruits, in which the ripened ovary and surrounding tissue both become fleshy and edible. The apple flower of most varieties requires cross-pollination for fertilization. Apples at harvest, though varying widely in size, shape, colour, and acidity, depending upon cultures (variety) and environmental character, are, nevertheless, usually roundish, 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) in diameter, and some shade of red or yellow in colour.
Apple varieties, of which there are thousands, fall into three broad classes: (1) cider varieties; (2) cooking varieties; and (3) dessert varieties, which differ widely but tend to emphasize colour, size, aroma, smoothness, and perhaps crispness and tang. Many varieties are relatively high in sugar, only mildly acidic, and very low in tannin. The apple is eaten fresh or cooked in a variety of ways. It is frequently used as a pastry filling, the apple pie being perhaps the archetypal American dessert. Especially in Europe, fried apples characteristically accompany certain dishes of sausage or pork.
Malus species are native to the temperate zones of both hemispheres. Apples were eaten by the earliest Europeans; improved selections had been made and varieties were recognized more than 2,000 years ago. Hundreds of varieties were recognized in Europe before the settlement of the Americas. As the wave of settlement moved across North America, it was accompanied by the distribution of seedling apple varieties, perhaps by Indians and trappers, certainly by itinerants who became local legendary figures, the most prominent being Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), a professional nurseryman who planted apple trees extensively in Ohio and Indiana.
Since the apple requires a considerable period of dormancy, it thrives in areas having a distinct winter period, generally from latitude 30to 60, both north and south. Northward, apple growing is limited by low winter temperatures and a short growing season.
The soils in which apple trees grow must be well-drained; fertilizers can be used if fertility is not high enough. Rolling hilltops or the sloping sides of hills are preferred because they provide "air drainage," allowing the colder, heavier air to drain away to the valley below during frosty spring nights, when blossoms or young fruit would be destroyed by much exposure to cold.
Scions of desired varieties are commonly grafted to hardy nursery seedlings of about 18 months of age; orchard planting follows one or two years later. Management during the six to eight years before appreciable apple production is reached may consist of little more than protection from competing vegetation and pests. Careful attention to pruning is required, however, especially during the first five years, so that the main scaffold branches will be well-distributed along the trunk and so that weak crotches will not develop that can break under heavy fruit loads. With mature trees, a rigorous spraying regime must be followed to protect against insect pests and possibly to delay spring development, to thin young fruit, and to hold the autumn drop of ripening fruit to a minimum.
Apple varieties that ripen during late summer are generally of poor quality for storage. Varieties that ripen in late autumn may be stored for as long as one year, however. For long holding, temperatures only slightly above the freezing point of the fruit are generally desirable. Apples may also be stored in inert gases or in controlled atmospheres.
The world crop of apples averages about 32,000,000 metric tons a year. Of the American crop, more than half is normally used as fresh fruit. About one-fifth is used for vinegar, juice, jelly, and apple butter. About one-sixth is canned as pie stock and applesauce. In Europe a larger fraction of the crop goes for cider, wine, and brandy. Of the total world production, one-fourth goes for cider.
The largest producers of apples are the United States, China, France, Italy, and Turkey. The largest exporters are France, Italy, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and the United States.
Apples provide vitamins A and C, are high in carbohydrates, and are an excellent source of dietary fibre.

* Mirza Ghalib

* Sahara Travels