This week we landed in Nagaland. Here's a list of the recipes I tried my hand at:
Hinkevju Colocasia Curry - www.pepperonpizza.com
Spicy Ginger Chicken - www.thebigsweettooth.com
Tomato Chutney - cookwithrenu.com
Nap Naang (Black Rice Kheer) - www.mycookingjourney.com
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| Hinkevju Colocasia Curry |
Whoever I informed about Nagaland cuisine week definitely asked me this question: "You know they eat dogs right?"
Yes. Yes I do. Nagaland is home to 16 major tribes and many minor ones. A miniscule percentage of the members of a couple of these tribes do eat dogs. So you cannot generalize this to all of Nagaland. And even if all of them did eat dogs, why should you be speciest and look down on it? How is it any different than eating chickens, fish, goats or cows? A life is a life. And please don't give me the "man's best friend" argument. Goats and cows also make very loving loyal pets. And chicken can be super smart pets too.
Anyway, fun fact: Nagas also eat a lot of pork, beef, mutton and veggies. Colocasia or Arbi is very popular here, as are seasonal greens. At a Naga wedding feast you would get a lot of different meats served up with loads of boiled vegetables, greens and rice.
The interesting feature of Naga food is the minimal or 0 usage of oil. And no spices either. Salt is added for taste and the cooked meat or veggies make up the flavour. All three items cooked had no oil or spices at all.
The Hinkevju curry was very mild and creamy, thanks to the slow-cooked arbi (colocasia). I had added only salt and replaced the mustard greens with spinach (again, because of seasonal unavailability). I liked it but C didn't - his punjabi-food-conditioned taste buds demand a plethora of spices.
Ease of cooking: 4/5
Taste: 3.5/5
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| Naga Spicy Ginger Chicken |
The Naga spicy ginger chicken is the easiest chicken recipe I have ever prepared! You just need to mince boneless chicken, cook it along with grated or ground ginger and green chillies and tada! No oil needs to be added, the chicken cooks in its own broth. It took roughly 15 minutes and the result was this delicious gingery and very healthy chicken. We had it with rice and it also made amazing stuffing for a sandwich the next day.
Ease of cooking: 5/5
Taste: 5/5
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| Naga Tomato Chutney |
The tomato chutney here had no oil either. Tomatoes were boiled along with chillies, coriander and mint and the resulting mushy veggies were mashed together. This made for a great accompaniment with the relatively bland curry and can pretty much serve all the purposes a green chutney does.
Ease of cooking: 4.5/5
Taste: 4/5
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| Nap Naang - Black Rice Kheer |
The dessert too was one of the easiest and quickest - it had only 3 ingredients (not counting water.. hehe). The black rice needs to be soaked overnight. Post that you just need to add rice milk and water in a pressure cooker. Once done, add the sugar and done! You can also choose to not use water if you want a creamier kheer :)
No dry fruits and nuts need to be added. The black rice itself gives a lovely nutty flavour and crunch. And the colour is a beautiful shade of orchid. When did you last have an Indian dessert that was any kind of purple? <3
Ease of cooking: 5/5
Taste: 5/5
While C was not a big fan of the main course, both he and A loved loved loved Nap Naang. So if you have black rice, definitely give this a shot!
Coming up next: Bihar
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