North-east India is very underrated in terms of food. Not much is known or talked about the exotic dishes and ingredients found in this part of India. It is very recently that a small part of our population, mostly food enthusiasts, have started to pay attention to the rare ingredients and cooking techniques used by North-easterners since ages. They have made efforts to continuously propagate the unique & healthy dishes and throw light on the age old cooking techniques like brewing, smoking, boiling and fermenting. The cuisine is often misjudged by people because of lack of knowledge about the ingredients used, most of which are exotic and rare and not easily available in other parts of the country. Meat, fish and rice are staple in most of the North-eastern states where growing vegetables at higher altitude is a huge challenge.
Out of the 8 North-east Indian states, I have been lucky enough to extensively travel to 5 of them which has given me ample amount of time to dwell into the local produce. The small town of Sapekhati in Assam, which is where my father is currently posted is bordered by two other North-eastern states, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Having spent the past 5 months in one of the remotest part of the country, I have learnt a lot about the local herbs and cuisine and have got once in a lifetime opportunity to work with ingredients I had never seen or worked with before. All thanks to the pandemic of 2020!
Naga cuisine is the cuisine of the people of Nagaland which mostly comprises of meat, fish and rice. Smoking/drying, fermenting and boiling are the most commonly used cooking techniques in this state. Dried/smoked meat forms an important role in their cuisine and has practical significance for sustenance of farmers, foragers and hunters. Nagas prefer boiled edible organic leaves and wild forage still makes up a large part of their diet which makes this cuisine extremely healthy, the use of oil is almost nil although lard is used in a couple of recipes. Naga food tends to be hot and why not? They have several varieties of chillies with spice and heat level ranging from exceptionally hot to mild, the most notable being "Naga Morich" and "Bhut Jolokia" or ghost pepper which was certified as the hottest chilly pepper in the world in 2007 by the Guinness World Records. Exotic ingredients like fresh and fermented bamboo shoots," Axone" (boiled, fermented and smoked or sun-dried soyabeans), "Anishi" (fermented and smoked/sun-dried taro leaves) forms an integral part of Naga cuisine. Ginger and garlic along with their leaves are used to flavor meat dishes along with sichuan peppers. The leaves of sichuan peppers much like other plants finds its way into the cuisine as well. Nagaland also has its own variety of ginger and garlic which is different from the ones available in other parts of the country.
Mejenga leaves or Sichuan pepper leaves (Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum) have a strong aroma and taste and are extensively used in Naga cuisine along with its seeds (sichuan peppers). The bushes of mejenga grow wild through out North-east India and are spikey. The leaves have lemony overtones, slight spicy after taste and creates a tingling numbness in the mouth. It is most commonly boiled with pork and bamboo shoot to make a stew which is served along with rice. I have used chicken as my main protein, marinated with lemon juice, lemon zest and salt for this dish and excluded bamboo shoot but you can go ahead and add it to your stew. I have flavored the stew using pounded Naga ginger, garlic, bhut jolokia and charred tomatoes. Bhut jolokia and Kaji lemon were hand picked from my backyard. The mejenga leaves were foraged locally and added towards the end of the cooking and stewed for 5-10 minutes before turning off the heat.
Ingredients :
Chicken - 750 gms (bone in)
Onion - 1 (large, finely chopped)
Mejenga Leaves/Sichuan Pepper Leaves - 1.5 cups (hand torn)
Bhut Jolokia - 1
Naga Ginger/Ginger - 2 inch
Garlic - 7-8 cloves
Tomatoes - 2 (medium sized)
Lemon zest - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Method :
1. Clean and wash the chicken. Marinate it with lemon juice, lemon zest and salt.
2. Grill the tomatoes in open fire till charred (5-8 mins). Let it cool and make a puree. Finely chop one onion. Make a coarse paste of ginger, garlic and bhut jolokia using a pestle and mortar.
3. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. Add the onion, once translucent, add the marinated chicken and cook for 3-4 mins on high flame.
4. Add the pounded ginger, garlic and bhut jolokia and cook for another 2 mins or till there is no raw aroma. Add the charred tomato puree next and cook for another couple of minutes on medium flame.
5. Add around 1 lt. of hot water or enough to submerge the chicken completely. Bring this to a boil and cook covered on medium flame for 20-25 minutes.
6. After 25 mins add the hand torn mejenga leaves, salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 10 mins, covered on medium flame. Add some more water if you feel a lot of it has evaporated.
7. Switch off the flame after 10 minutes and taste. Adjust the seasoning if required and serve hot with warm rice.
It looks heavenly😍