Posts tagged: meitei
Hawai uri thongba / bonavista beans stew
Hawai uri or bonavista beans are one of my favourite beans and they are always tasty regardless of the cook’s skill. They are one of the foods that I like for their visual appeal. They are dark and green and handsomely proportioned. And I have always thought of them as freshly harvested food since I remember Mama cooking them that way… plucked from our kitchen garden or gifts from friends’ kitchen gardens. These came from Mama’s friend’s home garden.
Black rice pancake / Chaak-hao tann
I first had chaak-hao tann when I went for a trip to Moirang during Lai haraoba*. Right outside the Thangjing temple, there were stalls selling assorted exotic goodies. There were chaak-hao tann, singju, fried river crabs, boiled eggs, bora, etc. But, chaak-hao tann intrigued me most since I had never heard of it then. Apparently, they are sold in Moirang and Kakching keithels** and are not available in Imphal keithels. It is sweet and chewy and has the aroma of the exotic black rice.
This is my first try at making chaak-hao tann.
Long beans cooked with slow roasted fish
Hawai asaangbi ngaaphak ka thongba or long beans cooked with slow roasted fish is one of my favourite Manipuri dishes. But my father hates it because of a bad childhood memory. I was telling Mama about my blog and had asked her to help me document some of the Manipuri dishes. Though she doesn’t belong to the internet generation of the Manipuri population, she is someone who is very fascinated by it (she thinks that one can find anything on the internet - she is almost right), so she was more than happy to oblige. So, this one is prepared by Mama and I am the photographer.
I saw some really nice looking lo(oooo)ng beans lying around in the kitchen so I thought they would make a good photograph. That in turn, led to this recipe based on it.
The ingredients that you will need for this are as follows:
Laiwaa paaknam - baked bamboo shoot
I had done a couple of paaknam posts earlier and had described it in one of them. In brief, it is any assorted ingredients packed in turmeric leaves (and sometimes also banana leaves) and baked. Maybe it is the yaingang-laa (turmeric leaves) season that is making me do so many paaknam posts (3 so far).
But anyway, here is another one.
I was at our gate the other day, playing with our dogs, when a vegetable seller from the hills came along. She didn’t have much to sell. She had ginger with the leaves intact, some loklei (galangal) and something else which I hadn’t seen before. They were pointed and long and looked like missiles. When I enquired about it, she told me that they were called laiwaa. It was bamboo shoot, most probably from a variety of bamboo locally called laiwaa (I am just speculating here). I got fascinated and bought a bundle for 20 rupees. As I headed upstairs to store them in the kitchen, I crossed ways with one of the leikai (community) women. She instantly recognised my bundle of goodies and said,
Ngaa atoiba thongba (Manipuri fish stew)
Ngaa atoiba thongba is more of a way of cooking fish than a dish itself. The name itself describes the way the fish is cooked. Ngaa means fish and atoiba means disintegrated in our language. So, the fish is disintegrated in this way of cooking it. Usually, the ingredients are almost the same as the ones that are used in the Manipuri fried fish curry (will post that later)… the difference is in the way it is cooked. It is a dish best eaten with clean bare hands rather than with a spoon, fork or chopsticks. But if you do not want to venture into eating with bare hands, you could always remove the fish bones before cooking the fish.
These are smoked/roasted fresh water fish that I got from Manipur called phabou-ngaa. They always come in pairs stuck tail to tail. It’s almost like they were killed during fornication!
They are commonly used to flavour various kangsoi* or are stir fried with onions and green chillies. I just had them for dinner. And I thought it would make an interesting picture.
*Boiled vegetables with fermented fish and ginger, usually garnished with coriander leaves.
Stir fried phabou-ngaa.
Ngaa-nam (fish baked in turmeric leaves)
This recipe is similar to the yen paaknam that I had posted earlier. Traditionally, ngaa-nam is usually made using small fish (the size of fries or a little bigger) which are mixed with the marinade and baked. Also, ngaa-nam would be usually made with fresh water fishes since the location of Manipur makes it difficult for sea water fishes to be readily available in the area. However, for this recipe, I am using medium sized mackerels.
I was in a hurry while buying the fish so I had to bring them as wholes. I don’t mind cleaning them myself….
Chana/chickpea fried with herbs
This is a dish that I often make when I invite friends over for dinner. Some of them might already be bored with it but I find snacking on salads and chickpeas a healthier option than to go overboard with the meats. The meats, of course can be saved for the main course. I can claim this to be derived from Kelli chana*, the popular Manipuri street food. Kelli chana is usually served on a lotus leaf and the aroma of the leaf contributes to the taste of the dish. However, most Kelli chana, these days, are made using yellow peas instead of the original chickpeas (chana). It is usually very spicy but I made it less so for this particular dish.
