Khana- Indian Recipes, Ingredients and Indian Food Guide - Pongal Recipes

The Cuisine of Assam, a state in North – East India, is a mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences. It is characterized by very little use of spices but strong flavors due mainly to the use of endemic exotic herbs, fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, pigeon etc. are very popular. Pork dishes are particular favorites. Preparations are rarely elaborate—the practice of Bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in the cuisine of Assam.

A traditional meal in Assam begins with a khar, a class of dishes named after the main ingredient, and ends with a tenga, a sour dish. These two dishes characterize a traditional meal in Assam. The food is usually served in bell metal utensils made by an indigenous community called Mariya. Tamul (betel nut, generally raw) and paan generally concludes the meal.

Fish

The next most important ingredient is the fish, harvested from the many rivers, ponds and lakes in the region. There is no traditional ethnic community in Assam that does not eat fish. Most traditional rural households have their own ponds for pisciculture. Some of the most popular fishes are the rou (Labeo rohita), the illish ( Tenualosa ilisha) and the chital (Chitala chitala), though the varieties of fish available and eaten is very large. The discerning gourmand would be able to tell which region of Assam is known for which variety of fish.

The most popular dish from Assam, the tenga, is an indispensable part of a proper meal in Assam. The most popular tenga is made with tomatoes, though ones made with kaji lime (thick skinned elongated) and thekera (dried Mangosteen, Garcinia pedunculata) added to other vegetables are also popular. Another favorite is small fish roasted in banana leaves. Hukuti is a special fish dish prepared from dried small fish (puthy mas) pounded with arum stem and dried and stored in bamboo tubes. Xukan masor chutney, popular among the tribal communities of Northeast India in general and Assam in particular, are dried and fermented small fish (puthy mas), three to four in numbers are roasted along with lavishly amounts of green chillies, tomatoes, ginger and garlic (all roasted). The ingredients are then pounded in a mortar to make a coarse paste and served with rice.

Greens and vegetables

The environs of Assam are rich in vegetation, and green leafy vegetables, called xaak, are an important part of the cuisine. Some of them are grown while others like the fern dhekia grows wild. There is a bewildering variety that is eaten and according to custom, one has to have a hundred different xaaks during Rongali Bihu. Locally available green leafy vegetables are: spinach, lai (a family of mustard greens), fenugreek greens, khutora (amaranth), moricha, mati kaduri, mani moni (dichondra), mint, cabbage. Green vegetables are often boiled with water to form a gravy or sauteed in oil with onions.