Aakhol Ghor, the Assamese Cuisines and Foods from Assam

Its all about Food and Food Habits from the land of blue hills and red river, Assam.

Aakhol Ghor means Kitchen in Assamese. Assamese traditional Kitchens normally has two parts. First the dining area plus a small cooking space for tea etc. And the next bigger and more functional room is the actual kitchen with at least two earthen fire places (chowka).If you are a food lover you can hope to see a lot of authentic Assamese Recipes in this place......

DISCLAIMER

Some famous Chef of India once said, " India is so unique, one can find three different recipes for the same chicken curry in the three houses lined in the same row. Every kitchen and every cook in India has it's own cook book, unlike rest of the world."
I personally feel it is so well said. Even in my case, you might find small to big differences in your known method of cooking and the ones posted here. I call them true Assamese for two main reasons, one: because of the spices used, and two: my granny knew nothing beyond her village ( she did not believe that cauliflower can be green, which is Broccoli). So whatever she cooked was passed on over generation. And my Mom finds it hard to believe anything can be cooked beyond her traditional methods( she is best at it, though she makes excellent Indo - Chinese things, invented). So please feel free to put in your comments / correction. One thing I can assure is I have cooked all these ( everything) myself with my own hands at least once. So whatever is here is tried and tested. You are always welcome to do your bit of experiment !!!!!

Assamese cuisines in internet

As we talked about the gradually increasing exposure of Assamese cuisines in internet in our previous post, we accidently came across a blog by Dr. Ashish Chopra, a food traveller (as he likes to call himself). He has summarized all about Assamese cuisines in a single post very beautifully. His post contains most of the details along with nice photographs and that post is already popular with many followers posting their appreciation. Do check that out:


The blog: ashthefoodie.wordpress.com

The post: http://ashthefoodie.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/inside-an-assamese-kitchen
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Coming Back to Life

Hey, first of all sorry for being away for such a long time and updating our blog with authentic Assamese recipes and preparations. Well, we had been terribly occupied with humdrums of the process called daily life fighting for survival in this ever changing and challenging world.


Well, we guess you have not missed us much as we are sure you guys are able to search and find more Assamese authentic cuisines now online and well documented. One of such blog is being maintained and managed by Nomi Sonowal, another food enthusiast from our region. She has been really doing a commendable job of bringing out 100% home cooked and self prepared authentic Assamese cuisines in her blog and she been very very regular updating the same. Our kudos to you, Nomi and keep up the good work. You can find her blog in our list of blog entries (please check at the bottom of the page)

The other day, while googling for some recipe we came across many blogs and sites which do list Assamese recipes, and we actually quite amazed at the results. When we first started this blog, we had very few fellow Assamese who were contributing to the movement to bring out the authentic and distinguished recipes from Assam and NE India to the world. Now, as we are moving ahead yet into another decade in this millennium, we sincerely hope, one day people would be able to taste Assamese food (or food cooked in Assamese way) all around the globe and people like Anthony Bourdain or Samantha Brown, Floyd visit Assam to showcase some of the signature recipes to the world.


So, here we are back again and catching up with you with three trademark Assamese dishes without which the Assamese food blogging would be incomplete and inexcusable. Also a snap of our last Magh Bihu (Jan 2010) pitha platter. Happy reading
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Vegetables of Assam

Someone has done a very commendable job by posting an article in Wikipedia which acts as a pictorial guide to all most all vegetables of Assam. That article provides the Assamese, English and scientific names of all common and essential leafy, non-leafy and herbs of Assam along with their pictures. You can find more about the article in the following post in our Helping blog:

http://aakholglossary.blogspot.com/2009/12/pictorial-guide-to-vegetables-name.html
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PITHA --- Bor Pitha/ Tel Pitha / Ghila Pitha...


Assorted Pithas: Prepared during a Bihu celebration @Hyd
This particular snack or Pitha is done in almost every house in Assam. Pithas are mainly Bihu Specials. But this one is all time available. In my home this is omnipresent like the typical plain cake, Narikolor Laddoo or Biscuits. Every one does it with a little variation. I am writing here one that is my version, good to eat and can be made at any part of the world.

Ingredients:
1. Rice Flour - 4 parts
2. Wheat Flour - 1Part ( this depends on how sticky it becomes, one might have to adjust according to the consistancy)
3. Juggery - Soaked in water, without any lump, and as per taste. This will also give color to the pitha.
4. Mustured Oil - to deep fry each pitha seperately.
5. A Wok - Deep and small enough to fry only one pitha at a time. ( For the assamese people, our luci bhoja kerahi is the perfect thing)
6. Backing Soda - 1 tea spoon

Method:
Mix ingredients 1 to 3. Add water if needed. The consistancy needs to be as that of a cake batter. Keep it aside for atleast 4 hours. It will give you the required shape and taste. As most of us will use dry packaged rice flour and not freshly grinded.
Heat the wok and add sufficient oil. Take a deep round scoop to spread the pita. Once the oil is hot enough ( do not burn it) add a scoop of pitha mixure. Lower the flame and fry. Initially your pitha might break or the shape might not come. For this you might need to adjust the consistancy. Too thick batter will give you a hard pitha, and a thin batter will not let the pitha be togather. For each pitha repeat the heating process. The key is to fry it on super low flame, as it needs to cook till inside.
Enjoy your pitha with a good cup of Assam Tea.


Note : I will try and update a picture very soon, to give you an idea how the final product must look.
33 comments:

Fish Curry... Granny Style.

As I have said many times that Assamese food is simple, and food in the villages is simpler. So here is one very simple fish curry. It's tasty, it's healthy and it's quick. You can refer to the glossary part for more clarity on the ingredients.

Ingredients:
1. Fish (Rahu, Katla, Koi, Xingi, Magur) - 1 piece per person, fried.
2. Pre Boiled Potato - 1 medium sized per piece of fish. broken, but not meshed.
3. Onion - Chopped, for about 5 pieces one medium sized.
4. Ginger - 1/2 inch for 5 pieces, broken
5. Boiling water 3 times the amount of curry is needed.
6. Mustard Oil - 2 spoon
7. Salt, Turmeric - To taste

Method:
Heat a wok or any curry pan. Add the oil. Add the ginger and onion. Fry a little. Add the Potato , salt and turmeric and mix well. Fry till you get the flavour. Pour in all the water. You can add two green chillies to it. Once the curry bubbles, add the fish piece to it. Keep shimmering in a low medium flame till the curry reaches a consistency of your choice.
It's ready. Serve hot with rice and some bhaji.
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