Rediscovering Imphal n around

I am home for almost 2 months this time and have time to visit places I always wanted to visit, like the Loktak Lake, Sendra, Keibullamjao National Park (the natural inhabitant  of Sangai) and also rediscover Imphal city on foot and this happened last week when a fren of mine (V) who's a accessories designer from Kolkata had come to source traditional shawls and other textiles from Imphal, V makes lovely bags and other accessories from Naga shawls. Earlier she did some sourcing from Nagaland Emporium but seems they could not supply the quantity she required, I suggested that she shd come to Imphal and see the Ima Keithel.

V bought a lot of shawls and Phanek (Tradtional Wrap-a-round), with her I explored the market n had never explored the New Ima keithel in that way....interacting with weavers and sellers and trying to understand how the whole market functions was the most interesting part to me. I took pictures and met some interesting woman sellers who can sell Ice to an Eskimo. We also visited some wholesale dealers in the market who's main function is to supply yarn n give advance cash to artisans, the handloom sector in Manipur is highly disorganised in an organised manner.  

My fren "V"  must have bought 50 items all together and m looking fwd for all of them to be turned into a  different utility products.

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)

Yongchaak kang-hanbagi steps

Yongchaak

1. Peeling the Yongchaak- To take out the green cover

2, One needs to cut both the sides of yongchaak after peeling.

3. Yongchaak Peeled and ready to be cooked or sun dried

Manipuri's....esp. Meitei's just love to eat Yongchaak...it can be Eromba, Singju, Kanghou or in Mixed veg. Yongchaak holds a very important position in the list of vegetables that Manipuri's eat. It is a winter vegetable, available only for 4-5 months in the year. The season starts from November and continues upto March "Ningol Chakouba" I guess will not be complete without "Yongchaak Eromba or Singju".

So how do Manipuri's manage the other part of the year without it....well its a simple thing that we do...we sun dry it and preserve it to have it during months when its not available. When the Yongchaak maru gets big its peeled and cut into pieces for sun drying. Sun drying yongchaak is not a very pleasant thing and I am sure most of us would not like it to do it...it involves peeling the yongchaak...which in itself is a huge task...the green cover needs to be peeled using what we  Meitei's call "Yongkhot" (Picture's above) the green cover is very sticky and it makes our skin very dry when it sticks to our palm. I use a really good quality kitchen glove while peeling .... and it sure saves me from the trouble. 

The above pictures demonstrate the way we eat yongchaak, after peeling the cover its cut into big n small pieces, the bigger pieces are for eromba and smaller are for singju...the above pictures also shows the peeling, cutting and also the process involved before sun drying it. People around the world eat yongchaak in different way like in Tripura, the local communities eat it by  roasting it over fire. South-East Asian people have the green seed inside...but I guess its only the Manipuri's who peel the cover/skin and then prepare various items.

Peeling yongchaak for sun drying is sure a time consuming and not a very pleasant task but am I complaining...no. Khane ke liyeh kuch bhi karega :).

Nongmangkha Mapaan Kanghou

Nongmangkha Mapan

Ingredients for Nongmangkha Mapan Kanghou

Nongmangkha Mapan Kanghou

Nongmangkha in bloom

Nongmangkha (pronounced Nong-mang-kha) is another vegetable which I believe is grown and had only in my native state Manipur, its very...veryyyyy bitter in taste and its supposed to have medicinal qualities (I sometimes wonder why all bitter things to eat have medicinal qualities).  I remember being forced to drink the water boiled with Nongmangkha leaves when we had fever or cold. 

The leaves and flower (mapaan) are eaten in Manipur, during Ushop its made into a dish called "Suktani" which is not in my list of fav. Manipuri dish but I like Kanghou or Nongmangkha Mapaan or the leaves. The ingredients are simple and preparation even simpler.

Ingredients: 

• 2 Potatos.
• 4-5 greens chillies.
• 1 Bowl of Nongmangkha Mapaan/leaves.
• 1 onion.
• 2-3 Garlic cloves.
• 2 tbsp oil.
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

Method

• In  a non stick frying pan add 2 tbsp oil and once its smoking hot add the chopped garlic and onion, fry for 2-3 mins.
• Add the Green Chillies and small cubes of potatos, cover the pan and fry for 10 mins or till the potato's are almost done.
• Add turmeric powder and salt, stir it well and add the nongmangkha mapaan/leaves. (Remember that if you are using Nongmangkha leaves chop it into medium size.)
• Cover the pan and fry for atleast 10 mins in low flame.
• Serve hot with rice and Yongchaak ka Hawaimubi ga Eromba.

Serves: 3-4

Cooking Time: 25-30 Mins