Maroi Nakuppi ga Khajing Kanghou (Chinese Chives and shrimps fried)

Maroi Nakuppi is an important part of Manipuri cuisine, we use it as an alternative to onion esp for tempering in vegetarian dishes and many people from the older generation prefer this than onion. This recipe is an age old recipe and one of my all time favourite, my mother makes it really well like more other things but since I love to eat, this was one of the first things I learned to make on my own. Its easy to make and taste really good. If you are in Delhi you can buy it from the INA market and if abroad most Asian food and grocery stores sells it. In Sweden I buy it from the Asian store which is a bit expensive but during summer we get the locally grown chinese chives which is not only cheap but taste far better.  I am looking forward to next month when we will get it in the local market. The ingredients bellow will serve about 2 people. 

Ingredients:

1. A small bunch of chinese chives or about 250 gm.

2. 2-3 green chillies 

3. Few garlic cloves 

4. Shrimps ( I used the dried shrimps, soaked in water for 10 mins and drained , one can always use the fresh ones as it tastes better)

5. 2 tbsp mustard oil.

6. Turmeric powder

6. Salt to taste 

Steps:

1. Take a frying pan and put it on medium heat, add the mustard oil and once it is smoking hot add the crushed garlic and chopped chillies. Fry for 2-3 mins and add some turmeric powder and stir it well.

2. Add the shrimps and mix it well, fry for another 5 mins on medium heat.

3. Add the chopped chinese chives and mix well. The chives gets cooked real quick so continue cooking on medium or even low heat. Mix it well with the other ingredients. 

4. Dried shrimps are normally salty so don't add a lot of salt. If you are using fresh shrimps you can add little more salt. Taste and remember never to cover it while frying this will retain all the moisture and make it a bit soggy. 

Serve hot with steamed white rice and with some eromba will be really good. 

Comfort Food- 1 Thambou Singju

Thambou Singju

Recently I met my dear fren 'CT' and the first thing she said was 'Why did you never made singju for me?'. I laughed and said because I never had the right ingredients while we were in Hague but I promised that I will make it for her very soon once I procure all the ingredients including Thambou and even Thoiding. We make different kind of singju (Manipuri salad mixed with herbs, chillies and sometimes with Ngari) but Thambou Singju reminds me of my childhood and the uncountable times I have had this comfort food with Aloo-saak, the combination of these two item was lethal, it still is :).

Thambou or Kamal Kakdi (in hindi) is available in many vegetable market in Delhi most of the vegetable stalls/shops in INA Market stock Thambou and even my neighborhood vegetable vendor sells it, in fact INA market sells almost all the Manipuri vegetables, which make me double happy whenever I visit the market. Before making it for 'CT' I decided to make it for myself and it was quite good. The recipe is below:

Ingredients:

1. Thambou (Kamal Kakdi/Lotus Root)

2.Cabbage

3.Spring onion

4. Toningkhok (Houttuynia cordata- Roots and leaves)

5. Thoiding asuba

6. Besan (Lightly roasted)

7.Chili 

8.Salt to taste

Steps:

• Finely (as fine as possible) chop the cabbage,spring onion, Toningkhok and thinly slide the Thambou.
• In a plate/bigger bowl mix the chili with salt and add the chopped vegetables, mix the ingredients well and add Thoiding and Besan, mix all the ingredients again and garnish with coriander leaves (optional). 

Enjoy the super healthy and yummy Singju. 

Baked fish wrapped in Turmeric leaves - My version of 'Nga-nam'

Last week was lot of fun, the extended Durga Puja holidays were fully utilised by cooking, eating and shopping. The other day on my way back from work, I dropped by INA market and bought my weekly quota of fish, what I absolutely love about INA is that the market never disappoints me and what is even more interesting is that INA market works like a mood elevator for me. I may sound a bit crazy but I'll choose to spend time at INA market over any of the swanky shopping mall in Delhi. 

To make my weekend interesting and food filled I decided to make baked fish and stir fried mixed veggies, so I bought 1 Kg of Red Snapper fish, Rohu, chives, Pui saag also known as Malabar Spinach, Black beans paste, Kikomon soya sauce and few other things. The final result of my exotic buy was very satisfying...baked fish is not a new recipe, Manipuri's love the 'Nga-nam' made mostly with smaller fish or 'Nga-kha' as we call it and never made with fish bigger than the little finger. But once I tried it with medium size fish and it was quite good. The recipe of the baked fish is below:

'Baked Fish wrapped in Turmeric leaves'

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium or small size Red snapper fish ( One can also use Pomfret, Tilapia or any other medium size fish)

2. Ginger Garlic paste- 3 spoons

3.Turmeric power- 1 tbsp.

4.Onion- 2 

5. Garlic- I whole pod 

6.Chilli powder - 1 tbsp (opitional)

7. 15-20 leaves of Awa Phadigom ( also know as Culantro/Mexican Coriander)

8. Mustard oil.

9. 4-5 Turmeric leaves (In case you don't have turmeric leaves use Banana leaves)

10. Aluminium foil

11. Salt to taste.

Steps:

1. Wash the fish properly, make small slits and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.

2.Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl ( Ginger garlic paste, Turmeric power, Chopped onion, Crushed garlic, chilli power, chopped awa phadigom, 1 tbsp mustard oil and salt). 

3. Smear some turmeric powder and mustard oil on the fish and also sprinkle some salt.

4. Cover the fish properly with the mixed ingredients and also put some inside the fish. Once done leave it for about 30 mins.

5. Pull out some aluminium foil and on it put a single Turmeric leave, now put the fish on it and put another turmeric leave on the fish, to save turmeric leave as it's always on short supply I had cut it neatly and covered the fish well with the leaves. Now wrap the fish with the aluminum foil, I used another layer of aluminum foil to fully wrap the fish. (Traditionally we use only the turmeric leaves to bake it but due to limited supply/availability of the turmeric leaves I used the aluminium foil to cover it fully and maintain the aroma)

6. Take a Tava and pre heat for 2-3 mins on high flame, add 1/2 tbsp of oil  and  put the foil wrapped fish on the tava, cover it fully with a plate or another container to maintain the heat. Turn the fish every 7-8 mins and cook on medium flame. It will take about 40-45 mins for the fish to get cooked. 

( One can also use an Oven to bake the fish but I prefer using the Tava, I find it more convenient )

Unwrap the fish after about 15-20 mins and serve hot with some simply yummy stir fried veggies and rice. Enjoy....

Ooti Asangba ( Green Ooti)

Ooti Asangba (Green Uti) Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Small cup of rice( Preferably Meitei chang).

Pangkhokla- mana 10-12 ( Aarbi leaves)

 Maroi-nakuppi.(250 gms)

 Mairen Mana ( Pumpkin leaves).

 Khamen-asinba mana anouba ( Tender Tomato Leaves)

Green chillies (7-8)

Cooking soda.

 Mustard oil.

Salt to taste.

Steps:

•  Mix the rice with some mustard oil and keep it aside.
•  Wash  some extra rice (which can be used for cooking later) and collect the water in a separate container, keep the water aside. ( Cing-he in Meiteilon) ( Using Cing-he is not recommended as it has high starch content but it makes the gravy thicker and the tastes better).
•   Wash all the green leaves and chop it into medium size pieces.
•   In a sauce pan or pressure cooker  put the Chinghe and add  chopped green chilles and all the chopped green leaves including the maroi nakuppi. ( Keep some chopped Nakuppi aside to be used later)
• Once it comes to a boil add the marinated rice and cook on low flame, add a pinch of cooking soda and continue cooking on low flame, till the rice is cooked. ( Try not to stir much as the Pangkhokla Mana may cause irritating in the throat later)
• Once the rice is cooked and the gravy is thick, shut the gas and let it cool for few mins.

The Final process:

• The final step is tempering  or Tadka lagana ( 'Shock touba' in Meiteilon).
• Take another pan and add about 2 tbsp of mustard oil, once it’s smoking hot add chopped Maroi-Nakupppi and Slit green chillies, fry it for 2 mins and add the cooked Ooti in the pan.
• Bring it to a boil and add 2/3 pinch of cooking soda.
•  Let it simmer on low flame and add salt to taste ( Remember that adding cooking soda makes food a bit salty so go easy while adding salt).
• Check the thickness of the gravy and once you feel the consistency is right, switch off the induction/gas and keep it covered.
•   Serve hot with white rice and Soibum Iromba.

Making Uti-Asangba for the first time in my Kitchen

The most important ingredient for Ooti-Asangba are the green leaves, while it’s easy to find the ingredients in Manipur. I had to go to three different places to buy the ingredients ( Pangkhokla & Mairen Mana  from the open market, Maroi-nakuppi from the Oriental supermarket and Khamen-asinba mana from the ornamental tomato plant I bought from Albert Heijn......yeah yeah Hum ‘Ooti- Asangba ke liyeh Kahi bhi ja saktey hai lol ) .  For those who live out of India and are dying to eat Ooti-Asangba, most of the ingredients  are available in the Oriental Stores  or check at stores selling South-East Asian and Chinese food items. The  ingredients I think will be a bit expensive but the taste is rewarding. Happy Cooking.

The almost perfect Cha-luk

Top Chef AN's Cha-luk

My fren AN cooks almost every traditional Manipuri dish to perfection and this time in Shillong she  made 'Ooti-Asangba' on popular demand :). Ooti-Asangba is one of my all time fav. Manipuri dish but I've never cooked it myself, my mom makes it really well but this time when I was home she refused it...she gave me the sarcastic look and said "Look at your weight"  this line was enough to make me stop my demands of all possible exotica Manipuri dish for the whole week I was home, but I knew that when I visit AN in Shillong she will make it (Khane mei thoda cheating chalta hai hehehe). AN had mastered the recipe from one Bamon but according to her she makes it much better than the bamon ( I believe her completely).

That day for lunch she made 'Ooti-Asangba, Ousoi kangshu, Fish fry and Leibak-hawai kanghou', I asked her helper to get the banana leaves from her garden and we turned the lunch into a yummy looking Cha-luk. I plan to make Ooti-Asangba  next week, the recipe will be uploaded.

Happy Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheirouba

Happy Cheirouba to everyone (Photo courtesy : e-pao.net)

Meitei Cheirouba or the new year for Meitei's in Manipur and all over the world is an auspicious day for all the Meitei's. As a kid growing up in Manipur, I loved this festival, it was the day we get to eat a really elaborate lunch...mom would always make Ooti (which is my favorite among of all Meitei dishes ) and atleast 10 more dishes, all vegetarian but really yummy, we exchange dishes with our neighbors, offer food to god on banana leaf before eating any of the special dishes  and the best part was Cheirou-ching kaba after the heavy meal. 

It's been many years since I celebrated "Cheirouba' at home in Imphal but every year on Cheirouba day I do cook Meitei dishes and make an elaborate meal for myself. Today I made Ooti, Champhut, Hawai thongba and  Aloo kangmet with Yongchak maru. Happy Cheirouba to me and hope this new year make me work harder and brings the best of life.

Saturday lunch.....Yen ga Hanggam ga Thongba -Machal Apouba Haap-paga( Chicken cooked with Mustard leaves)

To avoid all the reading , mind maps, writing, referencing etcetera...etcetera and to divert my mind I decided to cooked my fav. chicken dish the other day, one of the recipes invented purely out of desperation ...for some reason I was not able to make chicken   the way my cousin back home makes it, the very typical Meitei style chicken or "Yen Thongba" in Meiteilon cooked on iron kadhai (which according to me is one of the best chicken curry in the whole world) is one of my all time favorite dish and it taste even better if cooked on fire wood and not on gas. I have done few changes to the original recipe to suit my taste and added few ingredients, one of the most important ingredient is the "Machal-Apouba" a mix of masala available only in Manipur and made by this SHG group located in Imphal, I am a great fan of the "Machal" brand and got almost 2 dozen with me. The recipe and pics are below:

Ingredients:

• 500 gm chicken.
• 1 onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves.
• 4-5 green chilles
• Ginger- 2/3 inches long
• 4-5 leaves of hanggam.
• 2 potato
• Bay leaves (Tej patta)
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder.
• Machal (1/3 of the packet is used)
• 3-4 Tbsp cooking oil.
• Coriander leaves to garnish. 
• Salt to taste.

Method:

• Marinate the chicken for 20-30 mins with salt, turmeric powder, chille powder and 1 tbsp oil. 
• In a deep frying pan add oil and once its smoking hot add the bay leaves and chopped garlic. Fry for few mins and add the chopped onion and green chillies. Fry for 4-5 mins on low flame.
• Once the onion turns golden brown add the potato's and ginger and cook with the lid covered on low flame for 10-15 mins.
• Add the marinated chicken and cook with the led covered on low  flame. Add 1/4 tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well with the chicken. Remember to stir it every few mins so that the chicken is not burned on one side.
• Once the chicken is half cooked add turmeric powder, 1/4  tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well. Continue cooking on low flame.
• Add 2 cups of  boiling hot water in the chicken, increase the heat and bring it to a boil. Check the potato's and once the potato's are cooked add the hanggam, cover the led and cook for few mins 4-5 mins. Make sure that the hanggam is not over cooked
• Add some more machal apouba, salt to taste and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 
• Serve hot with rice and eromba.

Ingredients

Hawaitharak Ooti (Green Peas Ooti)

Hawaitharak Ooti used to be a winter delicacy in Manipur. Come winter and one gets to eat the best greens n veggies in Manipur, Singju taste better and mom gets busy cooking in the kitchen with many varieties of dishes to be cook n serve. But in the past few years the vegetable market has changed...from a Vegetable importer we have almost become self sustainable...now Green Peas is available throughout the year and one can cook it any time of the year but I still prefer to eat vegetables during the season. Ooti is a vegetarian Manipuri dish and its one of my absolute fav...easy to cook...yummy to eat but not very healthy. It tastes good with Manipuri style Khichadi but I like it best with Puri/luchi. The recipe is below.

Ingredients:

• 500 Gms green peas.
• 50 gms rice.
• 4-5 green chilles.
• 2 Spring onion
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1/3 tbsp cooking soda
• Salt to taste

Method

• In a pressure cooker add 2 cups of water, peas, slit green chillies and a pinch of cooking soda.
• Cook till 4-5 Whistles and let it cool.
• In a Kadhai add 2 tbsp of ghee and fry the chopped spring onions  for 2-3 mins.
• Add the boiled peas and bring it to a boil.
• Add 2 pinch of cooking soda and cook it for 10 mins in low flame.
• Add salt to taste.
• Serve hot with Khichidi or Puri/luchi.

Cooking Time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Hawaitharak Ooti (Green Peas Ooti)

Yongchaak Singju

Yongchaak Singju is a very popular Meitei dish, its not a main dish but one of the all time fav, side dish. I like it spicy and the best is with Oumorok...worlds ex.hottest chillie. The Picture and Recipe is below.

Ingredients:

• 2 Yongchaak (Peeled and thinly chopped as the pic. above)
• 1 Oumorok  or 10 Dry Red chillies.
• Ngari
• 1 piece Fried fish (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Onion for garnish.

Method:

• Peel the yongchaak and chop it into thin pieces.
• Prepare a paste of Oumorok with Ngari & Salt (One can steam it by putting Ngari and chillies in a small steel container inside a pressure cooker or alternatively what most Meitei's do is we put the Ngari and chillie in a small steel bowl and let it cook by steam while cooking rice in a Handi or Rice Cooker)
• Mix the Chillie paste with yongchaak.
• Garnish it with onions.

Preparation Time: 20 mins

Serves: 4-5

Yongchaak Singju

Pakora Thongba

Pakora Thongba

If someone writes a book on Manipuri Cuisine esp. on the Meitei Cuisine,one will end up with volumes of  healthy & yummy vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dish. Pakora Thongba is a popular  vegetarian Meitei Dish prepared during "Ousop" (Community Feasting/Grand Feasting) and also made popular by local hotels. Pakora Thongba with mangan atouba is one of the perfect afternoon snacks. 

We normally do not make this dish at home, mainly because its not easy too cook and takes time...so in short one needs to be very patient and make the pakora very carefully...coz its the shape which makes all the difference. I wanted to attempt cooking this dish since long and finally succeeded last month and all thanks to youtube I saw this video of making Pakora Thongba, uploaded by a Manipuri  guy based in UK. This person had explained the whole process in the video (video below) and must say he sure must be quite a foodie....so with all the ingredients and the video I made my first ever attempt  and bingo....except for the shape of the Pakora the final dish was mind blowing.

( While trying to recreate the dish last week, I realized the Youtube video is not available for public view anymore, which I feel is rather sad but to me rescue my fren Dr. AN is always there. I followed her instruction and made Pakora thongba but still could not manage to make that Pakora shape, the taste was authentic though. I will try and make the dish again and upload the recipe with pictures soon)

Soibum ga Nga ga Thongba (Fermented Bamboo Shoot cooked with Fish)

Ingredients- "Soibum ga Nga ga Thongba"

Soibum (Fermented Bamboo Shoot) is another Manipuri food item which is fermented before consumption like "Ngari & Hawai Jar" and like me most Manipuri's just love "Soibum Eromba". Eromba is the most common dish from Soibum but its also added in Pork curry and Nga- Soibum Kanghou (Kakching ge Nga- Soibum Kanghou is really famous), few weeks back a fren of mine invited me for lunch and she had made this curry....it was not only yummmm and I was having it for the first time. I liked it so much that I decided to try it myself...the final verdict of my 1st attempt very......really good.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Pieces of fried fish (Rohu/Katla/Karpu (Nga Pukloubi).
• 2 Potatos.
• 1 cup of soibum (Washed atleast 5 times and squeeze the excess water )  
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 3-4 Garlic cloves.
• Green Chillies (4-5)
• Sa Maroi (Also called Awa-Phadigom)
• Jeera 1 tbsp (optional)
• Turmeric powder
• Machal Masala ( Special type of masala powder available only in Manipur made by this SHG group called Kangla) or Garam Masala
• Salt to taste.
• 2/3 tbsp Mustered oil.
• Coriander  Leaves for garnish.

Method:

• In a Kadhai add 2/3 tbsp of mustered oil, once its smoking hot add the chopped Garlic. Fry for 1-2 mins and add the chopped Onion, fry till it turns golden brown.
• Add the chopped Green Chillies and jeera. Fry for 2-3 mins in low flame.
• Add the cube Potato's, chopped tomato and Soibum, mix it with the other ingredients. Cover the Kadhai and cook on low flame.
• Check after 10-12 mins if the potato's are half cooked. Add 1 small tbsp of turmeric powder, sa- maroi and the Machal Masala/ Garam Masala. Stir it well and add the fried fish & 2 cups of hot water, keep the kadhai covered and continue cooking on low flame.
• After 10 mins check if the potato's are cooked  and once its done add salt.
• Garnish with Coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with rice and oo-morok metpa. Yummmmmm

Cooking Time: 40-45 mins.

Serves: 4 

* I prefer adding turmeric powder towards the end to avoid food from sticking in the Kadhai when cooked in a non stick cookware.

Tharoi Thongba ( Freshwater Snails Curry)

Tharoi Thongba

Tharoi (Fresh Water snails) Thongba is one of the delicacy Meitei's love to have, my dad doesn't eat Tharoi  but mom, sister and me love it. Having Tharoi Thongba at home was always frowned upon by dad as he thinks its not a very clean think to eat. I have had tharoi thongba many times but had never cooked it myself, its a long process and requires alot of hardwork. I decided to try cooking it as aunty "A" has been telling me for the past 3 yrs to have tharoi thongba, I called my mom n my very good fren "AN"  Manipur Food expert (acc. to me)to ask the recipe. 

Armed with the recipe and with full confidence I bought 1 kg of Tharoi and few other ingredients available from Lakechoumuhani Market.(Agartala)

Ingredients:

• 1 Kg Tharoi (Freshwater snails)
• 2-3 Potato's.
• Lok-lei (Optional)
• Meikthrubi Manna ( A special kind of ingredient used in Manipur for Tharoi Thongba) 
• 2 Bay leaves.
• Dry Red chillies powder.
• 2 Onion.
• 5-6 Garlic cloves.
• Turmeric powder
• Sa- Maroi.(Also known as Awa-Phadigom)
• Jeera
• 2 tbsp refined oil.
• Salt to taste.

Method:

(For Tharoi)

• Buy Tharoi atleast 1 day in advance ( I bought 2 days before). Cut the face and back of the Tharoi.  In a big vessel filled with water add all the cut tharoi. Keep it overnite. Remember to add  8-10 grains of rice, this will help in getting all the small baby snails out.
• Next day wash the tharoi atleast 10 times before boiling it. Tharoi is covered with some kind of algae making it slippery and slimy so washing/cleaning is very imp.
• Pressure cook the clean tharoi (3 whistle or cook for atleast 20-25 mins if not using a pressure cooker). Once done drain all the water and keep it aside.

For the Curry:

• In a separate pressure cooker boil the potato's, Loklei and chillies. Once done mix all the ingredients with nagri, prepare an eromba and keep it aside.

Tharoi-Thongba steps:

• Heat a Kadhai and add the boiled Tharoi fry it without any oil. This will dry the excess water, fry for atleast 10 mins and keep it aside.
• In a separate Kadhai add 2 tbsp of vegetable/refined oil and fry the Mikthrubi manna, Bay leaves, Thinly sliced onion, Garlic and Jeera for few mins.
• Add turmeric powder and fry for 2-3 mins, add the Eromba and fry for few mins. Stir and mix it well.
• Add the Tharoi , Sa- maroi and also add 2-3 cup of hot water in the kadhai.
• Add salt and cook till the gravy is thick.(10-15 mins)
• Serve hot with Rice and Chamfut (Boiled Vegetables).

Cooking Time: 60 mins

Serves: 5

Enjoying winter

Sitting near a "Meiphu" (Traditional Meitei heater) and having roasted peas and aloo is what I like best about winter, winter in Manipur can be real fun but very, very cold too.  Its that time of the year when sleeping for 5 more mins always feels good and sunday feels like the best day.

Well  winter is also the season when we have runny nose, cough & fever to top it all. But its also the time of the year when the best and fresh green leafy vegetables are available at throw away prices....I associate winter with Hanggam (Musterd leaves) , Kobi lei (Cauliflower), Hawai Maton (Tender Peas leaves)& hawai tharak (Peas)  and also the best time to have " Nga ren" & Hawai Tharak ooti...which is an all time fav. For  a total foodie like me winter is all about having the best possible Meitei dish which taste best only in winter. I am enjoying winter and looking forward to having everything best that I can.

Meiphu- Traditional Meitei Heater

Oukabi Atouba

Oukabi (Koi Mach in Bangla and Climbing Perch in English) is one of the most yummest fish found in Manipur. Okay its not as yummy as Ilish mach but its sure beryyy beryyy tasty. The price is more or less the same when compared with mid size Ilish mach. The other day I went to the market near G.B Hospital to buy some veggies, I ended up buying 1/2 kg of Oukabi. Fried Oukabi  taste best with sougri kongsoi or any other Kangsoi.

Marinating the Oukabi with salt, turmeric powder and lil musterd oil before frying it enhance the taste and frying  it in mustard oil instead of vegetable oil is the best ....my best fren AN lovesssss Oukabi athouba and whenever I travel to Delhi I always take atleast a kg of fried oukabi for her....the mouth watering pic is below yummyyy :)

Sougri- Eromba

Okay I know it sounds weird Eromba adusu sougri ge...howgadaba maande da but trust me if u ever try sougri eromba you will love it. Sougri is bit sour and wen I was younger I really used to hate sougri kangsoi but now I love it...Sougri Kangsoi, Morok metpa and Rice....yummmmm. The way to prepare Sougri eromba it is lil different compared to other Eromba preparation's, I use a lil more ngari and it taste best wen you add atleast 2 fried fish , the main ingredients are:

- Sougri.
-Aloo
- Red Chilles
- Ngari ( a lil extra)
- Fried fish (must)

Method:
- Wash all the ingredients and pressure cook the Aloo and red chillies.
- In a separate container, steel tiffin box preferably put the sougri and lil water.
- Put the tiffin box inside the pressure cook and  cook it only till one whistle
- Steam the Ngari and fried fish. Prepare a paste with ngari, fried fish ,salt & boiled red chillies.
- Squeeze excess water from the boiled sougri to drain the sourness
 -Mix the paste of ngari with boiled aloo and add the sougri.
-Garnish with spring onion....yummmy.

Yendem- Eromba

Yendem (I have no idea what its called in English) is quite a popular vegetable in Manipur. Yemdem kangsoi and Yendem eromba are two of the most popular Meitei dish, two types of yemdem are found in Mnaipur the green one and the black one. The more popular one is the green one and for some reason I don't like the color of black yemdem, below is the picture of yendem and ingredients for Yemdem Eromba

Ingredients:
- 1-2 yemdem.
- Dried Red Chillies
-Aloo (I used the small red ones)
-Koli Hawai Maru (Fresh Rajma not the socked one)
-Ngari
-Fried fish (opitional)
-Salt to Taste

Method:
-Wash all the ingredients and make round slices of Yendem.
- Put all the ingredients (Yemdem, aloo, koli hawai maro and red chillies) in a pressure cooker, add 1 cup of water.
-Wait till three whistle and let it cool down.
- Steam the Ngari and fried fish (Optional)
- Prepare a paste of Ngari, fried fish, boiled red chillies and salt.
- Mix the paste with the boiled ingredients and mix it well.
- Garnish with spring onion and have with rice.

Lafuu Tharoo Eromba

Lafuu Tharoo (Banana Flower)is one of my all time fav. veggie. I like Lafuu Tharoo Paknam (Meitei Version of Pancake), Lafuu Tharoo Eromba and best of all is the lafuu tharoo bora (Pakora).Thankfully it's available through out the year here in Agartala and I normally make Eromba as its more convinent and easier. The recipe is simple:

- Make round slices of Lafuu Tharoo and pressure cook it with potato's and dried red chillies.
- Prepare a paste of steamed/Roasted Ngari, Chillies, salt and fried fish.
- Mash the boiled ingredients and mix it with the paste. Add water if required.

Lafuu Tharoo eromba is supposed to have medicinal qualities, it helps our internal system get quickly adapted to change of climate while travelling from one place to another. My mom always prepare this eromba when we go home for holiday and for some reason I can never make eromba as good as my mom's.

Fasting?????? Nah Feasting

The only additional alphabet in “Feasting” when compared to “Fasting” is “E” but the “E” can make hell lot of difference; I am talking in terms of calories. Since I love to cook n eat so much I normally cheat on my diet plan every Sunday and make something really good, last Sunday I made myself the best meal of the month. What was the best meal??? Well what could be better than a typical Meitei Sunday Lunch, “Ooti Thongba (Hawai Mangan ga Ousoi ga Ooti), Pulao/Khichidi and Morok Metpa” lethal combination to make any Meitei foodie go weak on the knee.

I tried my best to prepare the food as healthy as possible using less oil, adding potol, brinjal, chana & moong sprouts in the pulao, the result was a super yummy Pulao. Ooti can never be cooked in a healthy way the only thing I did was I put less cooking soda, Ooti is very heavy for the stomach in Manipur we have Ooti with Lafuu(Banana Steam) Eromba, the fibrous Lafuu helps in the digestion but I was dying to have morok metpa (Typical Meitei Chile Chutney) so I made this really good morok metpa with fresh green chillies, Ngari and fried fish. I am always happy when I eat a heavy and yummy meal without any regret :)

The yummy things I cooked

October was a month full of cooking yummy food and eating loads of yummy food. I want home..twice, the 1st time as part of my yearly break during Durga Puja and 2nd time for official work. Each time I ended up carrying back tons of veggies, I always get veggies back whenever I go home I end up buying almost all kinds of veggies available at Nagamapal keithel from maroi nakuppi to maroi napakpi to cauliflower to thambou to ou morok. I love to buy veggies at the Nagamapal keithel but the most annoying part abt buying veggies is the dirt and garbbage piled up near the keithel. When I was home I invited my fren "A" and her Husband "G" for lunch and ended up cooking the most yummy meitei style chicken after the one at D's place...was I happy??? oh yeah I was super happy.....I always thought I can't cook meitei style chicken but I was wrong! with the right ingredients and an iron kadhai I can sure cook yummiest meitei style chicken. The cook in me tried different things this month and the most succesful in all my attempts was the "maroi nakuppi paknam", I had never tried making paknam but always wanted to, the problem with making it was the availability of turmeric leaves but this time I managed to get one during one of my field visits and with lil help from "A" I got the recipe right and bingo...my paknam turned out to be as good as that of my mom's. I do plan to make paknam next time I visit home and surprise mom with my recipe of a very popular meitei dish.

Hungry kya......

The first pic. from top is Aloo saag and its my all time fav. manipuri snacks, I like it more than singju or bora....sorry singju!!! but Manitombi's ( The Singju-bora yonbi in my neighbourhood back home) aloo saag is something I can do anything for. The 2nd pic. is of singju...before mixing it....its the ultimate salad anyone can have...among manipuri's it's the most popular snacks/salad, when I was a kid I used to buy aloo saag and hide it from mom and have it with my sisters...fearing mumma will scold. Funny even after so many years, I still have that feeling that mumma will scold for eating junk and food from outside whenever I buy  singju, bora or Keli Chana and mind you the Keli Chana from our locality is really famous in Manipur. My friends always ask me to buy it, if I am visiting them whenever I go home for work or holiday. Hahaha how much I used to fear mumma...looking at these pics I feel hungry...very very hungry....