Food Recipes to Taste the Flavour of the North-East

Food Recipes to Taste the Flavour of the Northeast

Singju (Sīng-Jū) Unlike misconceptions about salads being plain and not so delish, this salad from the Manipur is one of the most well-known dishes from the northeast, largely owing to its addicting spicy flavour and crunchy texture. It is so versatile that in different places, you may find different ingredients used to make the dish for its ability to accommodate various items without compromising with its taste

INGREDIENTS: Vegetable oil-1 tablespoon Cabbage – 500g Chickpeas (with its leaves) – 100g Red chilli powder – 3 teaspoons Ngari or fermented dried fish - approx. 5 pieces Sesame seeds – 1½ teaspoon Salt – to taste Pepper – to taste Lotus roots (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Soak the chickpeas in water till they become slightly mushy. 2. Deep fry the chickpeas in vegetable oil, and keep aside. 3. Roast the ngari or fermented dried fish pieces, grind it with a teaspoon of water, and add red chilli powder to it. Stir well to get a paste-like texture. 4. Julienne the cabbage and keep them in a big bowl. 5. Now add the chickpeas, the ngari and chilli powder paste, and lotus roots (optional) to the bowl of cabbage. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all together so that every bite will be flavourful. Khaji (Khā-Jī) Native to Arunachal Pradesh, this dish, which uses rice as its main ingredient, may look familiar and perhaps even ordinary. But what make it so distinctive are the facts that they use red rice instead of white rice or brown rice that we’re more accustomed to, and a local ingredient called churpi or fermented black cheese.

INGREDIENTS: Red Rice – 2 cups Spring Onions – 6 stalks Dried Red Chillies – 15 or more (to taste) Churpi or Fermented Black Cheese - 2 pieces Onions – 1 cup Red Chilli Powder – 2 or 3 teaspoons Salt – to taste Pepper – to taste

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Cook the red rice, in a similar fashion to how you would cook normal white rice. 2. Finely chop the onions and spring onions, and keep them aside separately in different bowls. 2. Make the red chilli chutney: • Put the dried red chillies into the mixer, and grind them. • Add churpi or fermented black cheese into the mixer. • Add the chopped onions. • Add red chilli powder. 3. Take a bowl and combine the cooked red rice, chopped spring onions and the chutney. Sprinkle salt and pepper to your own liking, and mix well. You may garnish with extra spring onions.

This soupy dish from Mizoram is a refreshing and filling bowl of rice and protein, with variations in its ingredients from one locality to another. Nothing reminds a north-eastern more of home than rice porridge! INGREDIENTS: Rice – 500g Chicken – approx 250g Vegetable oil – 5 tablespoons Ginger – 50g Garlic – 100g Onions – 250g Coriander leaves Red Chilli Powder – approx. 3 teaspoons Lemon juice-1 teaspoon Ajinomoto -1/2 teaspoon Salt and Pepper-to taste INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Soak the rice in water till it becomes soft, and then proceed to boil it. 2. Boil the chicken for while, and shred it into bitesize pieces. 3. Heat the pan and add vegetable oil to it. When the oil seems hot enough, add the shredded chicken to the pan and keep stirring. Keep it aside when it is well done. 4. In the same pan, add oil again. Slice the onions and add them to the heated oil in the pan. Stir-fry it properly, and make sure it doesn’t burn. 5. Take a bowl, and put in boiled rice along with the chicken and onions. Add pepper and salt according to your own taste to the meld. Mix all of the ingredients well. 6. Squeeze the lemon for its juice onto the bowl. Garnish it with coriander. Contributors:

Julie Donngaihlun-B.A(H) English(I) Lisa Kamduk-B.Sc(H) Maths (I)

Esther Lalhunthari- B.Sc(H) Maths(I) Tangy and spicy in taste, this tomato chutney, from Tripura is a delight to the taste buds. Easily pairable with most dishes (especially with those of the north

east), it is very much relished in other states as well. INGREDIENTS: Tomato - 2 units Onion - 2 units Garlic - 5 cloves Green Chillies - 5 pieces (adjust according to spice tolerance) Dry Red Chillies - 6 pieces (adjust according to spice tolerance) Sunflower Oil/ Vegetable Oil - 1 tablespoon Coriander (Dhania) Leaves - 2 tablespoons Sugar - 1 teaspoon (optional) Salt - to taste

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Soak the dry red chillies in warm water for about 30 minutes. Crush them with a pestle and mortar afterwards. 2. Chop the tomatoes, onions and coriander, and keep aside. 3. Crush the garlic cloves and green chillies separately in a mortar with a pestle. 4. Heat the choice of oil on a frying pan. 5. Add the chopped onions into the pan and fry until light brown. 6. Put in the garlic paste, green chilli paste and the red chilli paste, and stir well. Let it cook for a while. 7. Adjust the heat to medium flame and saute the onions on the pan till they become translucent. 8. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well on low flame. Cover the pan with a lid and let the concoction cook until it becomes mushy. 9. Sprinkle salt according to taste and stir well. You may add the recommended amount of sugar into the blend. 10.Add the chopped coriander leaves and lightly stir for a minute or so. 11. Serve it some coriander garnishing. 21

Artwork inspired from Klew bad Ka Sngi, a folktale.

It is said that the Peacock and the Sun lived together in heaven as husband and wife. They loved

each other so much and they were so happy until one day..as the sun was busy giving light and

warm to the earth, the peacock was strolling in the celestial garden.

By Deidaphi Khriam Seguin

Understanding Resistance in the Northeast: A Panel Discussion

The panel discussion was held against the backdrop of loud, insistent voices, both in the North East and in the mainland, over the discriminatory nature of the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act, or the CAA for short.

Anthony Debbarma: The CAB is not new to the Northeast. It has been a part of the citizenship narrative right from 1951. Even in the 1970s, the Central Government often threatened the State Government and promised severe action unless illegal immigrants were kicked out. Circulars had been going around but no action as such was taken. Three commissions were formed to look into illegal immigration. Tripura is currently supersaturated and there is a dire need to protect the indigenous people. When the present Prime Minister was campaigning in Tripura, he promised to get the immigrants out, but the promised action turned out to be CAA, an incredibly discriminatory and blatantly problematic piece of legislature. The Home Minister, and by extension, the Central Government has failed to respect the demands of the North East, and a clear reflection of this blatant disregard for the welfare of the people is apparent in the CAA. There was a call for a strike throughout Tripura and the strike happened for three days, after which we met the home minister- who assured protection of the land, of the culture. No action succeeded the assurance. When the people went back to protest, on 8 January 2019, 5 students were shot and killed, even as they held a peaceful protest. We were asked to wait, but however long we waited, we never got a response.

Bimol Akoijam: The Armed Forces Special Powers Acting (AFSPA) is a power that allows the killing of a person on suspicion. AFSPA reduces a human being to no more than a decision made by a person with some sovereign power. Section 4 of the AFSPA cancels Article 21 of the Constitution - the Right to Life. It reduces you to no more than an animal, a creature with a life that can be killed by whomever and whenever without any consequences. AFSPA has been used to integrate and constitute India as a sovereign identity. There are people who no longer identify with their state or with their spaces. It’s like looking at a family photo and not seeing yourself, he says, it’s like being invisible in your home. Illegal Immigration is a ‘Demographic Invasion’, a weakening of democracy. Illegal immigrants have overwhelmed the number of the indigenous - they take away their jobs, their lives, their identities. Bangladesh is a country with a negative migration rate, the people going out of the country are more than the number coming in. Statistics say that in the next twenty years, no Hindus will be left in Bangladesh, and most of the Hindus are going to come to the North East. Hence, the CAA is a deeply problemic piece of legislature, for it not only awards citizenship based on religion, but it also disregards the North East and their troubles.

Panelists

Mr. Anthony Debbarma, Secretary General of the Borok Peoples’ Human Rights Organization (BPHRO)

Dr. Bimoi Akoijam Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Dr. Prasenjit Biswas, Professor of Philosophy, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU)

People who don’t look the same, don’t speak the same, are automatically alienated. This fear is Pan Indian, and the North East is no exception. The Assam NRC exercise has been intensely problematic. Around 1.9 Million people were put under the scanne r to have their citizenship questioned. 40 lakhs of these were children. How is this not a blatant disregard for human rights? Many a times, parents were doubted but their children were not, or children were suspected while their parents were regarded as Indian citizens. The process demanded that citizenship be verified by checking with a backhand copy taken by the government official, and this copy was often not there. And hence, legitimate cases were put under suspicion, families were torn apart and people were thrown into camps. It all points to a dissolution of democracy

To conclude, The people in the Northeast do not oppose the CAA for religious intolerance as much as it does for the illegal migration issue. As we more towards a surveillance state, one filled with mistrust, we move towards the breakdown of democracy.