Peerah Rajmah-Rice – Food Review

Couple of weeks back, I made a post with regards to ‘Top 10 Dhabas in India’. On my post, I noticed that one of my entries, “Rajmah Chawal at Sharma Dhaba, Peerah” received a noticeable review. So I decided to visit Peerah again. I live in Mumbai and my native place is J&K, so I planned a vacation with my family in mid-July to see if the standards have really fallen down and if the quality of food has gone really bad. So we started from Jammu to Peerah via Chenani-Nashri tunnel. The total journey is over 120 Kms and we reached Peerah in two and half hours, thanks to the great NH1 highway roads. I knew of this dhaba, the one which we always visited early in the days. I met the owner and he recognized me and we ordered Rajmah-Chawal. So here is what you might like to know:

1. There are three major Sharma Dhabas.
2. The one in the photograph is one of the first Dhabas in the Peerah along with Khajuria Dhaba, which is also very good. The name is ‘Old Sharma Vaishno Dhaba Peerah’.

3. Earlier they had three plate systems, quarter, half and full, now they have only half and full.

4. They served Rajmah-Rice with over 20 Gms ghee on each plate (we ordered half plates).

5. Honestly, the food was amazing and fresh, however the Anardana chutney wasn’t that great but raw onions fills the gap.
6. The owner is still the one who used to cook Rajmah back in the day.

7. In the background, you will have a great view of Bagliha Project and fresh apple and apricot trees.

8. I would rate it 9/10.

I would highly recommend this ‘Old Sharma Vaishno Dhaba Peerah’ the one photographed along with the owner’s photograph. If you are in J&K and do not visit Peerah for Rajmah-Chawal with desi ghee, your food travel might be possibly incomplete. I would recommend you to take Rajmah separate from rice, as at times, they add access curry on the rice, which few may not enjoy. Hope this helps!