Flavours of the East

Cuisine from North East India is creating quite a buzz in culinary circles with its subtle and delicate flavours. Avantika Bhuyan finds out the secret behind its rising popularity.

It was on a visit to Delhi a year ago that 29-year-old Ashima Dayal first sampled Assamese food. It was at the insistence of her friends that she made her way to Jakoi at Assam Bhawan, albeit with great skepticism; her head spinning with images of boiled vegetables, bland gravies and limp fish fries. However, an hour and a meal later, this Mumbai-based HR executive with a private bank, had a change of heart. She still can’t get over the taste of fish pitika or baked fish, mashed and seasoned with a hint of mustard oil, green chillies and onions. She now makes it a point to visit Jakoi, owned by Assam’s famous chain of Paradise Hotels and Restaurants, whenever she is in the city. There are several like her who are now discovering the cuisine of the North East.

There was a time, till three or four years ago, when quizzed about their knowledge of North Eastern cuisine, most people would sheepishly reply, “momos from Shillong”. Noses would crinkle at the mention of pickled bamboo or fermented dry fish. Those who craved for the authentic flavours from the region could only find it at the houses of their Assamese or Naga friends. Today, words like tenga, pitika, bhoot jolokia and khorisa or bamboo shoot roll smoothly off people’s tongues. The cuisine has come a long way; from being served at stalls at Dilli Haat in Delhi and state government owned bhawans across the country to now having dedicated eateries creating awareness about the varied flavours of the North East. Though such restaurants are still a handful, with only four in Delhi, three in Bangalore and none in Mumbai, still it is a big change from no eateries at all till some two years back. Today, places such as Jakoi and Nagaland’s Kitchen in Delhi and Zingron and Ants Café in Bangalore have made fish tenga and pork with raja mircha almost famous.

The one reason that these dishes are gaining in popularity is that people are becoming weary of eating the same old chilli chicken, Thai green curries and satays. The well- travelled Indian constantly craves for newer flavours and that’s exactly what the cuisine from the North East has to offer. “Cities like Delhi and Bangalore have sizeable student population from the North East. For instance, Delhi itself has some two lakh students from across the Seven Sisters. They have brought with them a unique culinary culture that they are now sharing with their colleagues and friends,” says Ashish Chopra, culinary historian and author of NE Belly.

* * * * *

One such restaurant that caters to this craving is the Nagaland’s Kitchen located in Delhi’s Green Park Market. One of the most popular dishes is the spare ribs served with a raja mircha dip. Another fast moving item is the pork gravy, again fired up by the world’s hottest chilli, and ideally to be accompanied with dal and dry fish chutney. “Though 70 per cent of our clientele still hails from the North East, many of them bring their friends along who get hooked on to the flavours and end up becoming our regular customers,” says William Massey, general manager, Nagaland’s Kitchen. There was a time when opening up a restaurant dedicated to North Eastern cuisine was considered a risky business. It was easier to go the Chinese or Thai food route. But today, tastes and preferences are changing. At Nagaland’s Kitchen, for instance, such is the popularity of the food that this 48-seater restaurant is always packed to the seams in the evenings.

Zingron, which opened in Bangalore in April this year, has similar tales to tell. The eatery prides itself on serving authentic Naga fare along with a smattering of Manipuri cuisine. “Every tribe has its own specialty. For instance, the Ao tribe uses anishi or paste of fermented yam leaves, while the Lotha loves the use of bamboo shoot,” says the manager, Ngashanpam Shimrar. Most of these eateries source these ingredients from back home as they are still very hard to find in the cities. “Buying the same ingredients in Delhi is extremely expensive. So, we order our chillies, yam leaves and fermented soy bean paste from Nagaland itself as you can be assured that the ingredients will taste authentic. Our guys go back four times a month to buy these items,” says Massey.

It is not just in its exotic ingredients and hat ke flavours that lies the charm of North Eastern fare. Its biggest strength is its simplicity, or so believes Vineet Bhatia, the owner of UK-based restaurant, Rasoi, and the only Indian chef to have won two Michelin stars. When he visited Guwahati for his show, A Twist of Taste, that airs on Fox History and Traveller, he was impressed by the respect that people had for fresh produce and the subtlety of the flavours. “There is no butter, no ghee, no overdose of garam masala. I found the use of bamboo so unusual. In fact one of the most memorable dishes that I had there was chicken roasted in bamboo hollow,” he elaborates.

Also, there is minimal wastage, with every single part of the vegetables used in some dish or the other; like the Mizo vegetable stew or bai which is a concoction of seasonal produce and local aromatic herbs. Then there is the Manipuri eromba which combines boiled vegetables with the strong flavours of fermented fish and chilli.

* * * * *

Besides these eateries, a few enterprising souls have also been organising food festivals across the country. For instance, Ants Café in Bangalore has been organising Naga, Mizo, Manipuri, Assamese and Meghalayan food festivals since April 2010. Run by the husband-wife duo of Pradeep and Smitha, the café is attached to the Ants Store— a space reserved for the crafts and textiles of the North East. Initially Pradeep and Smitha had to do their bit to sensitise people about some of the really exotic dishes. For instance, during the Tangkhul Naga festival, they had served a dish called korbula which was essentially boiled snails cooked with herbs. “It got a cold response at the beginning of the event; on seeing this a Naga friend who was also the organiser went around with a plate full of korbula and began to show the customers how it was meant to be eaten. The entire dish was over in 45 minutes,” says Pradeep.

Chefs and restaurateurs are not stopping at just serving the traditional fare; they are going a step forward by adding a creative twist to it. Bhatia, for example, was so impressed by the high quality of the tea he sampled in Assam that he decided to incorporate it in his menu by creating dishes such as chai crème brulee . “Also next year, we are planning a tea-based menu. We want to show you that food can be paired not only with wine but with tea as well. The Guwahati trip offered many such good ideas,” says Bhatia.