The violet fields of Pampore
For three weeks every autumn, a plateau south of Srinagar turns violet. This is where Kashmiri saffron begins.
A town that smells of saffron
Pampore sits on the karewa, raised tablelands of old lake-bed soil along the Jhelum. Families here have grown the saffron crocus for generations. The well-drained soil, the cold autumn nights and the dry, bright days give Kashmiri threads their deep colour and strong aroma.
Local legend credits two Sufi saints with bringing the first corms to the valley centuries ago. Whatever the truth, the town has been built around this one crop ever since.
Picked before the sun climbs
The flowers open overnight and are picked by hand at first light, before the day's heat softens them. Each small violet flower holds just three crimson stigmas.
Through the morning, whole families sit together and separate those threads from the petals, one flower at a time. It takes roughly 150 flowers to make a single gram.
Mongra: only the red
Once dried, the threads are graded. Mongra is the stigma tip alone, deep red with no yellow. Lachha keeps part of the paler style attached and is a step down in strength.
We sell Mongra. Since 2020, Kashmir saffron has carried a Geographical Indication tag, which ties its name to this valley's soil.
One gram of saffron. A hundred and fifty flowers. A morning's work for a whole family.
How to tell real saffron
Drop a few threads in warm water. Real saffron releases a golden-yellow colour slowly over several minutes, and the threads themselves stay red.