Tripura -- Kosoi Bwtwi (Green Beans & Garlic Curry)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 27
State: Tripura 
Dish: Kosoi Bwtwi (Green Beans & Garlic Curry)

From south India, we are moving all the way to northeastern state of Tripura. Tripura is one of the seven sister states in North Eastern India. Indigenous communities forma about 30% of Tripura's population. The Kokborok-speaking Tirupuri people are the major group among 19 tribes and many sub-tribes.
Because of its geographical location, Tripura only has one major highway, National Highway 44, connecting it with the rest of the country. This is the reason for the hindered economic progress in the state. Poverty and unemployment continue to plague Tripura, which has a limited infrastructure.
Cuisine: Tripuris (people of Tripura) are essentially non-vegetarians and hence the main courses are mainly prepared using meat, but with the addition of vegetables. Traditional Tripuri cuisine is known as Mui Borok. Key ingredient called Berma, which is dried and fermented fish is used in most of their dishes. Food is prepared without oil and hence considered healthy.

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Nagaland -- Betang Meh (Kidney Beans with mustard greens & ginger)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 20
State: Nagaland
Dish: Betang Meh (Kidney Beans with mustard greens & ginger)

Fourth North eastern sate in a row, today we are going to Nagaland. Nagaland is one of the smallest states in India. Nagaland is largely mountainous state. There are 16 main tribes in Nagaland and each tribe has its own unique language, customs and cooking styles.
Naga cuisine features meats and fish, which are often smoked, dried or fermented. A typical Naga table consists of a meat dish, a boiled vegetable dish or two, rice and a chutney. Some common dishes are 'fermented bamboo shoot' with fish and pork. Naga food tends to be spicy beacuse of the use of different varieties of chilies.

Today's Dish: Like the other North Eastern states, finding vegetarian dishes was extremely difficult even for Nagaland. Lot of emails were exchanged within our BM group and a link to a Naga facebook page was found by one lucky member. It was like jackpot and I picked one dish from there.

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Mizoram -- Chhum Han (Steamed Mixed Vegetables)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 19
State: Mizoram
Dish: Chhum Han (Steamed Mixed Vegetables)

We are onto the 5th North eastern state that is one of the Seven sister states of the North Eastern India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya being the other four that I explored already). Mizoram, literally means 'land of hill people'. It is a land of rolling hills, valleys, rivers and lakes. Majority of Mizoram's population consists of several ethnic tribes who are either culturally or linguistically linked. These ethnic groups are collectively known as Mizos.
Cuisine: The cuisie of Mizoram differs from that of most of India, though it shares characteristics to other regions of North East India and North India. Rice is the staple food of Mizoram and the Mizos love to add non-vegetarian ingredients in every dish. Fish, chicken, pork and duck are popular meats among Mizos. Most of the dishes are cooked in mustard oil. Meals tend to be less spicy than in most of India.
Today's Dish: With only limited vegetarian dishes in the Mizoram cuisine, I got really excited when I saw the mention of this steamed/ boiled veggie dish. It is called Chhum han and a little Google search brought me to this boiled fish dish. So I made the veggie dish based on that recipe.

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Meghalaya -- Vegetarian Jadoh (with Tofu)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 18
State: Meghalaya
Dish: Jadoh

We move onto the next North eastern state of Meghalaya today. The name means 'the abode of clouds' in Sanskrit. Just the name makes me think of beautiful sky kissing moutains and luscious greenery and breathtaking landscapes. Coming back to reality, about one-third of the state is forested and the forests are notable for biodiversity of mammals, birds and plants. It was previously part of Assam, but formed a new state in 1972.
Tribal people make up the majority of Meghalaya's population. The Khasis are the largest group, followed by the Garos and the Jaintias. Meghalaya is one of the 3 states in India to have Christian majority with 70.3% of the population practising Christianity (other 2 being Mizoram and Nagalan, also in the northeastern India).
Cuisine: Meghalayan cuisine is very unique and is quite different from the other states in the northeastern India. Staple food of the people is rice with spicy meat and fish preparations. Each tribe has its own variety of foods. The popular dishes of Khasis and Jaintia are Jadoh, Ki kpu, pickled bamboo shoots etc. Garos on the other hand eat almost any animal, but in day to day life they usually have a simple meal with rice and kapa (this can be made of either meat or vegetables and is cooked with special ingredient called karchi which is made up of filtered ash water).

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Manipur -- Kelli Chana (Spicy Chickpea snack)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 17
State: Manipur
Dish: Kelli Channa

We are going to Manipur, one of the seven sister states in the North Eastern India. Manipuri cuisine is simple, organic and healthy. Dishes are typically spicy foods that use chili pepper rather than garam masalas. Most of the dishes do not use oil for cooking.
The staple diet of Manipur consists of rice, variety of leafy vegetables and fish. Manipuris typically raise vegetables in a kitchen garden and rear fishes in small ponds around their house. They cook dishes based on the seasonal produce and the dishes taste very different from mainland Indian cuisine because of the use of the various aromatic herbs and roots that are unique to the region.
Today's Dish: I found this simple to make Manipuri Street food, Kelli Chana here and even though it had ingredients native to Manipur, I thought I would give it a try. Thankfully this Manipuri blogger described the ingredients and gave some substitutions to the herbs and spices that she used in the dish. I went ahead and made some of my own changes, but the final dish was quite delicious.

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Assam -- Labra (Mixed Vegetable Curry)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 3
State: Assam
Dish: Labra

Assam is a state in the North eastern part of India. It is located south of the Eastern Himalayas and comprises of the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys. It is surrounded by the six of the other Seven Sister States. Geographically Assam and the other sister states are connected to India via a narrow strip of land in West Bengal called the Silguri Corridor or 'Chicken's neck' (this is something new to me and wanted to share with all of you)

Cuisine: Because of the geographical location, Assam has both the mountains and plains which influence their style of cooking. It is a confluence of cooking habits of the hills that favor fermentation and drying as forms of food preservation and those from the plains that provide fresh vegetables and abundance of fish from the many rivers and ponds that run through the state. The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over fire and the preparations are rarely elaborate.

Staple Food: Rice, Fish, Meat & Vegetables.

Specialties: Tenga (light and sour fish dish), Pura (Assamese version of smoked or barbecued meat or fish), Pitika (side dishes), Bor-a etc.,

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Arunachal Pradesh -- Thukpa (Vegetarian Noodle Soup)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 2
State: Arunachal Pradesh
Dish: Thukpa (Vegetarian Noodle Soup)

Arunachal Pradesh is in the North eastern part of India. It is one of the seven states from the north eastern India that are referred to as ' The Seven Sister States'. Arunachal Pradesh means the 'land of the dawn-lit mountains' or the 'land of the rising sun' as it is located in such a geographic position that the sun hits it before spreading its rays to the other states or regions of India.
Cuisine: Cuisine of Arunachal Pradesh varies by the region as there is a lot of tribal influence on their food. Each major tribe consists of number of sub-tribes and each sub-tribe has different food habits and life styles. The ethnic cuisine of Arunachal Pradesh is simple to cook with lots of nutrient values and is scrumptious to consume. Non-vegetarian is preferred and minimum spices are used making the dishes mild to taste.
Tribes: Apatanis, Chuki, Nishi, Monpa etc.
Staple Food/ Drink: Rice, Fish, Meat and Leafy vegetables/ Apang (Rice Beer)
Specialties: Thukpa, Dre-Thuk (prepared from noodles, minced meat and soup), Zan (preparation of millet or flour and boiling water), Bak-tza (prepared from flat rectangular shaped dough, minced meat and soup).

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