Pork and bamboo shoots

Image Courtsey: Photojournal.co.uk
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The Nagas are hardy hillsmen inhabiting the state of Nagaland in the north east of India. While the term “ Naga” is generic indicating people residing in the state, there are actually more than 15 different tribes each with its own dress, culture, language. Their cooking techniques are steaming, blancing, boiling and quite a bit of mashed dishes. Note that sautéing, frying, deep frying are not common simply because these require cooking medium of oils, pans et al. The simple basic cooking implements are used to dish out (no pun intended!) organic, simple, yet tasty dishes.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

750 gms of pork belly; 500 gms of fresh bamboo shoots which have been slit length wise, 50 gms of ginger julienned; 2 tomatoes diced;5-6 chillies

(Note: the original chilly used is called Bhoot Jolokia which is native to the state of Assam and Nagaland. It is the hottest chilly in the world and beats the Mexican Habanero Chillies hollow on the Scolville scale which measure the degree of hotness. the chillie in itself has a great fragrance and adding a little bit to the dish does wonders to it.since it may not be easy to find outside of the state recommend the normal chillies for this dish.If you do get to find one of these dynamites beware, use only 1/2 of it to the dish!)

Method

With a little cooking oil, saute the pork belly till the juices are sealed. A good 2 minutes of sauteing should do the trick. Add the ginger,bamboo shoots and chillies to it and saute for another minute or so.

Add about a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add the diced tomatoes to the mix. Lower the heat , cover the dish and cook till the meat is cooked. This may take about an hour. Alternatively, you can use a pressure cooker and cook it for aroudn 30 minutes on low flame.

When the dish is done, it should look red in colour because of the tomatoes and the flavour of the bamboo shoot should come though.

Goes great with plain rice.Heres how it looks

What this blog is about

Nokalikai Falls, Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India

Indian cuisine, synonymous with curry, chicken tikka masala etc but India has many “little Indias” and this is also true of its cuisine. In a country of 1 million people, there are many little nuggets which remain hidden! This blog will try to unravel some of these little gems.

www.incredible-northeastindia.com

The North Eastern part of India is a land inhabited by colour tribes each with its own history, culture, language and food… This blog will capture some of the simple, healthy and great tasting food from these mystic lands.

Where some ingredients may not be available world over, we suggest a close substitute.

Cheers!

Jun

Green Papaya Curry

 

This is a popular dish with the Assamese people of the state of Assam in North East India. This dish uses sodium bi carbonate as a seasoning agent. Dishes of these style are known locally as a “khar”. This particular dish is known as Omita (Papaya) Khar.

 

Ingredients

500 gms (approx of green papaya diced

20 gms of fresh ginger julienned

3 cloves of garlic julienned

4-5 green chillies julienned

Method

·         Take 2 tbs of mustard oil in a wok. Add the ginger, garlic and sauté for a minute on a medium flame.

·         Add the diced green papaya and stir it in. Saute for a minute or two

·         Add the green chillies

·         Add 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil. Cover the wok and cook on low flame till the papaya is tender and almost mushy.

·         Add more water if required. We are looking for a consistency like a porridge.

·         Add 1 tea spoon of sodium bicarbonate and cook it for another minute

Garnish with coriander and

A beautiful goan sunset!!