Mountain Delicacies

Hibu Dindie

‘The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…’ said some great gastronomic and so I can safely say that I am justifying those wise words by telling theworldabout the cauldron of delicacies that Arunachal has hidden from the world for so long by its blue mountains and variant shades of green and where countless mouth-watering dishes have been cooking in the humble fireplaces since ages. But now that the hidden land has opened up its doors, people are being accessed in, to understand the enigma that the land is. It has marched a long way from its infancy when people lived almost naked to its present state with its people spread across the nation and the globe. The tribes and their customs have been well researched and documented, yet the culinary skills of the tribes never found a place among the food lovers of the wider world except within the state itself where innumerable cuisines right from the very famous momos to the not so famous Khaopak of the Khamptis or the Stone fry of the Tangsas.

dried over the fireplaces, a must for every tribal family. The food habits differ from the east to the west, with the eastern cuisines consisting of mostly boiled and baked products while the western belt which bears Tibetan Buddhist influence and so the food consists of more butter, corn and wheat. Come the festive season and the state teems with rice beers brimming on the bamboo cups ready to be downed by the festive revellers and most loved among all of them is the ‘Kala Apong’ or the black rice beer (made by fermenting rice along with burnt vegetable ashes) accompanied by chunks of beef, pork, mithun or chicken meat boiled, fried or pickled extremely hot.

Herbs are an essential part of every tribal savoury and the enormous greenery in the state provides mind-bogglingvarieties of herbs, fruits and vegetables which when used as a condiment with different ingredient can lend an amazing variety of flavour to even a seemingly plain, boiled food (the secret to the good health of every Arunachalee).The market teems with wild vegetables and fruits laboriously handpicked, some of which have not even been scientifically recorded and to add to the shopper’s choice are the range of wild games to be found in the bazaars, be it a wild boar, a deer, birds, fish or even the smoked jungle rats, wriggly silkworms or the river beetles (which may seem unpalatable to many but believe me it tastes really awesome!). Fish soup or Paa-shaa or the Thukpa, more famous as the soup-chow are a favourite as also are the rice cakes called Khao-laam, Yetang or Etii and the rice pudding ‘Amin’ cooked with chicken which is another must-try and how can I forget the winters back home when we light fire and huddle around it on family gatherings cracking jokes or talking about the time that is now; waiting for the roasted chicken mixed with eggs, spices and herbs to bake inside bamboo tubes  while the spicy pikey being cooked in the kitchen makes us drool with its delicious, hot aroma (native to the Apatanis but nevertheless cooked and loved by every true Arunachalee) served with steaming, hot rice or bubbly rice-beers. It would indeed need the gut of an elephant to taste every delicacy of this tribal state at one go. So, I have attached a small recipe of the Pikey which will give a peek into the food-trove that is Arunachal.