NORTH
EAST INDIA: FOOD HABITS
TRIBAL
CUISINE OF INDIA
AIM
To introduce the untouched tribal cuisine of north- east
India.
IINTRODUCTION
Northeast India refers to the eastern most region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. Northeast India is ethnically distinct from the other states of India. The region had a population of 38.6 million in 2000, about 3.8 percent of India's total. There is great ethnic and religious diversity within the seven states. These beautiful seven sister states mostly have tribal's, who have there own distinct methods of cooking and food habits.
TRIBAL CUISINE
- Cuisine with less oil and spices.
- Mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences.
- It is characterized by very little use of spices but strong flavors due mainly to the use of endemic exotic herbs, fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented.
- Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, pigeon etc. are very popular. In fact Naga tribes also eat dogs, cats, fish, spiders, birds, crabs - in fact almost any living thing that they can lay in hands
- Preparations are rarely elaborate.
- The practice of Bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in this cuisine.
- Bamboo is used widely in this cuisine.
Ingredients
- Rice – Staple food. Both the indica as well as the japonica varieties are grown in northeast region of India. The most popular class of rice is the joha or scented rice. As a staple diet rice is eaten either steam boiled (ukhua) or sundried (aaroi).
- Meat – Pork, Beef, Mutton, Chicken, Duck, Pigeon, Venison, Squab.
- Fish – Big fishes are Rohu, Hilsa, Chital, Khoria etc.. Small fishes are Puthi, Borolia, Mua, cheniputhi, tengera, lachin, bhagun , pabho etc.
- Greens and vegetables – The environs of north-east are rich in vegetation, and green leafy vegetables, called xaak, are an important part of the cuisine. Some of them are grown while others like the dhekia (fern) grows wild. There is a bewildering variety that is eaten and according to custom, one has to have a hundred different xaaks (greens) during Rongali Bihu.

Tribal name
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English name
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Paleng
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Spinach
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Podina
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Mint
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Kolmou
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Water spinach
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Dhoniya
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Coriander
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Noroxingho
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Curry leaf
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Motor xaak
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Pea greens
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Aloo xaak
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Potato greens
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Bondhakobi
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Cabbage
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Phulkobi
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Cauliflower
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Olkobi
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Kohlrabi
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Ronga aloo
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Sweet potato
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Koldil, Kolphul
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Banana flower
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Bilahi
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Tomato
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Bengena
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Eggplant
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Bahgaj
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Bamboo Shoot
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Jolokia
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Chilly
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Salgom
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Turnip
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Rongalao
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Pumpkin
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Xukloti
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Patchouli
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Tengamora
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Roselle
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Kosu
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Taro
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Kaskol, Purakol
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Curry Banana
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Bhol
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Ridge gourd
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Urohi
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Indian Bean
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- Spices and herbs used are same as rest of the Indian Cuisine but to flavor up to some extent tribal's of north-east India use dried and fermented vegetables and interestingly fermented and dried fish. They mostly use chilies. They also use coconut in their preparations.
Assam
Cuisine of Assam is probably the most different type of cuisine. The delicacies still have the same aroma and taste. The cuisine is distinguished by on the basis of the exotic herbs and vegetables added to the dishes that lend a magnificent taste to the dishes. Rice is the main dish and finds a place in the ingredient list of almost all preparations. In non veg, fish curries and pork dishes are the favorite most of Assamese people. Birds like ducks and pigeon are also used in dishes. In Assam, a traditional full course meal starts with serving Khar which is a class of dishes and ends with a tenga which is a sour dish. Just like food is served in a banana leaf traditionally in south India, a meal in Assam is served on a bell metal utensils. Almost everyone ends their meal by chewing on a betel nut known as Paan.
Vegetarian Delights
All major preparations are of rice. There are different varieties of rice which are used for different dishes, most widely used being joha, indica and japonica. Rice is eaten in different ways such as roasted, grounded, boiled or just soaked. The soaked rice called kumal saul is an important breakfast meal for many which is generally had with milk. Chira mixed with yogurt and jaggery is also a traditional breakfast. There is a special class of dishes called pithas, that are prepared only on special occasions and on festivals like Bihu. The rice dishes are had with curry that are made by boiling vegetables in water; some are grown while many grow in wild. The green leafy vegetables are called xaak.
Non Vegetarian Special
Non Vegetarian seems to be the specialty of Assam Cuisine. Fish dishes form the major part of non vegetarian food. There are different varieties of fishes that are used for cooking. The main are rohu, hilsa, and chital. Different regions are famous for different variety of fish. Tenga is the most important dish in traditional. Assam meal. Dishes of birds such as ducks and pigeons are also prepared. Though pork dishes also seem to be the favorite.
Exotic And Side Dishes
Sides dishes in Assamese are called Pitikas. They are generally made from steamed or roasted vegetables. The most popular among the people is aloo pitika (mashed potatoes). Exotic food contains a dish called eri polu; it is the pupa of Eri silkworm and fermented bamboo shoot. Both are traditional dishes. A special class of rice preparations, called pithas are generally made only on special occasions like the Bihu. Made usually with soaked and ground glutinous rice (bora saul), they could be fried in oil with a sesame filling (xutuli pitha), roasted in young green bamboo over a slow fire (sunga pitha) or baked and rolled over a hot plate with a filling (kholasapori pitha).
The most popular dish from Assam, the tenga, is an indispensable part of a proper meal in Assam. The most popular tenga is made with tomatoes, though ones made with kajinemu (thick skinned elongated lemon) and thekera (dried Mangosteen,) are also popular. Another favorite is small fish roasted in banana leaves (paatotdia). Hukuti is a special fish dish prepared from dried small fish (puthi maas) pounded with arum stem and dried and stored in bamboo tubes.
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Kholasapori Pitha |
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Aloo Pitika |
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Spinach Khar |
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Til Pitha |
Arunachal Pradesh
The ethnic cuisine of Arunachal Pradesh with great nutrients value is simple to cook and scrumptious to consume. The incredible feature of tribal gastronomy is that they avoid using any kind of oil or other dry or packed Indian spices. The tribal cuisines are nutritious and healthy as they regularly use herbs with medicinal properties and indigenous fresh spices which are not found in rest of Indian except in some part of the hilly areas.
Rice is the staple food of all the tribe’s of Arunachal Pradesh. Dung Po (Steam Rice) is the most popular version of cooking rice. Two brass utensils are used for this purpose. In this part of the world, the myth persist that food cooked in a brass utensils are always delicious. Maybe because of this persisting myth, brass has become a popular cooking apparatus found in the house of the poorest of the poor.
In this image above, the rice is filled with some leaves to secure it from scattering as the pot is hollow from beneath and the 2nd pot is filled with water to generate steams to cook the rice. The cooked rice is wrapped in leaves to serve. Kholam is also another popular and unique process of cooking rice. In this method a bamboo tube is used instead of metal utensils. The rice is filled with water in a custom made bamboo tube measuring 2 & 1/2 feet in height than it is left beside the traditional heath with enough heat to cook it. Before eating the rice the outer layer of the bamboo tube is delicately incised
Wungwut Ngam (Chicken with rice powder) is a delicious method of preparing chicken with some portion of rice powder. The required amount of rice is fried without any oil till brown and than it is grinded to powder. The rice powder is poured in the half cooked chicken with all the indigenous ingredients than it is left to boil. Boiler chickens are avoided for any kind of ethnic dishes.
The most extraordinary tribal cuisine is a soup called PASA, it is fish soup prepared from fresh raw fish. The head and tail portion is chopped off. The remaining red meat is minced and a paste is prepared. All the ingredients like garlic, ginger, chilly, makat, pee chim khim, phoi hom (indigenous scented spice leaves) are grinded to make a paste. The paste of the fresh raw fish and spices are mixed and flavored with the juice of ooriam (Khumpatt) leaves which gives tint greenish color to the soup. It is said that during war time, tribal soldiers used to prepare this soup instead of cooking food that would have revealed their hideouts
Special cuisines of Khasi people
Jadoh which is red hill rice cooked with pork and is something similar to biryani
Jastem is plain hill rice cooked with pork gravy, onions, ginger and turmeric thus giving it a characteristic yellow color.
Mylliem chicken' is famous in these parts and gets its name from the village where it was first prepared The chicken is cooked with different condiments, most notably, the small round Khasi peppers which gives distinctive taste and flavor.
Dohkhlieh is a type of pork salad made with boiled pork and onions with a sprinkling of chilies as desired
Dohneiiong is another pork dish. This dish has gravy and is made with black sesame seeds to give it its dark texture.
The fermented soyabean in this region is 'Tungrymbai'. It has a strong odour and is very popular especially during the winter season as an integral part of Khasi food.
Different types of rice 'pancakes' are also popular. Pumaloi is powdered rice which is steamed in earthern pots called ‘Khiew Ranei’.
Pukhlein is powdered rice mixed with jaggery which is then deep fried.
Pudoh is plain powdered rice stuffed with small pieces of pork and steamed. Putharo is again plain powdered rice steamed.
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A Tribal Kitchen at Meghalaya |
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Red Rice |
Jaintia tribes recipes include many food items made from mushrooms. Many exquisite dishes are prepared with the help of locally available mushrooms, known as Tit Tung. Mushrooms are cooked with black sesame seeds and pork and this dish forms the most favorite dish in Meghalaya.
Manipur & Mizoram
Manipuri cuisine is simple, organic and healthy. Dishes are typically spicy foods that use chili pepper rather than Garam masala.
The traditional Manipuri fine dining was a literally 'sit-down' affair with banana-leaf plates. Their love for rice can be seen in every household here. Some take rice with meat, and some others prefer a fish delicacy along with the main dish.
Kabok, a traditional specialty, is mostly fried rice with a world of vegetables added in.
The Iromba, an eclectic combination of fish, vegetables and bamboo shoots is served fermented.
Mizo food is simple, basically made up of lentils, bamboo shoots and fish, pork, chicken and wild game meat and rice are hot favorites. Maize is widely grown and eaten
The staple diet of Manipur consists of rice, leafy vegetables, and fish. Manipuri's typically raise vegetables in a kitchen garden and rear fish in small ponds around their house. . The food is not spicy and is cooked in such a way that the nutritive value is actually retained.
Eromba is a chutney of boiled vegetables or potatoes with a lot of red chilies, tomatoes (optional) and dried fish salted to taste. It is garnished with chopped onions and coriander leaves.
Singju is a salad prepared with finely chopped cabbage, onions, lotus stems, stinky beans, coriander leaves, and ginger. Boiled kidney beans are optional and the dish is seasoned with red chili flakes, salted to taste, with red roasted sesame powder and roasted chick peas powder.
Cham thong is a boiled preparation of any seasonal vegetables with coarsely chopped onions, ginger and 2-4 garlic cloves and salt, topped with dry fish, fried fish pieces (optional)and water. It's soupy in nature and is eaten with rice.
Morok metpa is a chutney prepared with green or dry red chilies. The chilies should be boiled with dry fish in a pan and then it should be mashed with salt to taste in it, fried fish pieces can also be added to it. chopped onions and coriander leaves should be added to it and mixed.
i see some of my pictures are mine taken and used by yoiu without giving credit to me
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