Jammu: Kalari, the name synonym to the Dogra delicacy of Jammu, has received GI tag in 2023 but it has failed to move out of Jammu and Kashmir as it hasn’t received the promotion and attention which it deserved. Whatever name it has made is because of the individuals who personally promote and send it to different parts of the country as well as outside India.
Kalari is made of milk and the processing starts during the boiling when on the first-day lemon is mixed to separate the water and the remaining milk is kept to dry which later on is cut into pieces of 100 to 150 grams to make a piece of Kalari. The water separated from milk is used as “Mathal”, in place of lemon.
“Kalari is different from cheese and it has the advantage of becoming tastier when it is kept dry for many days. Once it is dried up, the Kalari is fried on a pan by adding salt and onion along with bread to make it ready for consumption,” claimed Sham Lal, a famous Dhaba owner of ‘Sham Kalari’ near Chenani on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
The GI tag for Kalari was for Udhampur district under one district one product programme where the administration has been helping women of different villages under self-help groups to make it a profession. But there is no policy of exporting the same.
“We have been using the social media apps to sell Kalari outside Jammu and Kashmir and also set up a stall in Jammu and Kashmir pavilion during India International Trade Fair (IITF) where it received the attention of the people as well,” claimed Vikas Singh, DPM Udhampur.
Despite these efforts, the export of Kalari hasn’t officially started. People on their own send Kalari to different states of India and also outside India.
“I have been sending Kalaris on demand to people in Jammu and New Delhi who later on send the product outside India. Few of these people have sent Kalaris to Britain, America and Canada and demand keeps coming at regular intervals,” Sham Lal added.
Mostly the Kalari is used in the Jammu region and also on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway where people stop to enjoy the delicacy.
