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
PITHA --- Bor Pitha/ Tel Pitha / Ghila Pitha...
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| Assorted Pithas: Prepared during a Bihu celebration @Hyd |
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.
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.
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.
Assmese Pork Recipes
This time, I want to share a few very popular dishes from Assam with you in a different way. Basically, I was thinking, to make this post a bit personalized rather than just sharing only the recipe.
By this time you might have formed some idea, that Assam is really a land of rich amalgamation of many cultures, tribes, customs and food habits. Over a period of time, the typical dishes of many communities/ tribes have influenced and have got influenced by various cooking methods and styles of other communities. The popular dishes from Assam at the present day therefore reflect this trend and you can not really separate one from another, with respect to authenticity and origin. Having said that, I again would like to put the disclaimer, that, every cook has her/his own style and trademark preparation method.
Now, coming to pork dishes, I really find it very amazing, how pork has taken the place for most favorite meat in recent times among the people of Assam. Originally, not many communities used to consume pork as their main non-vegetarian side dish due to various religious and social restrictions. But, of late, more and more people have started having pork, either as a family habit or by discovering the awesome taste of the ingenious authentic pork dishes which different tribes of the region have been cooking. Today, if you ask any youth from Assam, what’s your favorite meat, 70% chances are there that the answer will be Pork.
In Assamese, we call it Gahori. It has many other names though e.g. Assam Tractor. I really don’t know what the origin of this name is or who coined it first, but I guess, you can really make out, why it is called so. Whatever you may call it, I am sure, you would definitely enjoy the following dishes which I am going to talk here today.
Although, there are many popular pork recipes which people of Assam and NE India prepare and serve, I am going to talk about mostly about three very must have dishes. They are:
Pork Curry with Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tendergreen)
Pork with Gaanj Tenga (Chilly Pork Curry in Bamboo Shoot)
Chilly Dry Fried Pork
There are some basic things with pork dishes if you really want to taste it in the Assamese way.
First, you should get the most appropriate type of pork meat. I am not an authority on pork, but I have heard the meat from lower neck and lower belly part tastes the best. Then you need to get the meat cut down into smaller pieces so that you can cook it well it in a curry form. An ideal pork piece can be cut in such a way, where you get both fat and little bit of meat with the skin. (See photo)
By this time you might have formed some idea, that Assam is really a land of rich amalgamation of many cultures, tribes, customs and food habits. Over a period of time, the typical dishes of many communities/ tribes have influenced and have got influenced by various cooking methods and styles of other communities. The popular dishes from Assam at the present day therefore reflect this trend and you can not really separate one from another, with respect to authenticity and origin. Having said that, I again would like to put the disclaimer, that, every cook has her/his own style and trademark preparation method.
Now, coming to pork dishes, I really find it very amazing, how pork has taken the place for most favorite meat in recent times among the people of Assam. Originally, not many communities used to consume pork as their main non-vegetarian side dish due to various religious and social restrictions. But, of late, more and more people have started having pork, either as a family habit or by discovering the awesome taste of the ingenious authentic pork dishes which different tribes of the region have been cooking. Today, if you ask any youth from Assam, what’s your favorite meat, 70% chances are there that the answer will be Pork.
In Assamese, we call it Gahori. It has many other names though e.g. Assam Tractor. I really don’t know what the origin of this name is or who coined it first, but I guess, you can really make out, why it is called so. Whatever you may call it, I am sure, you would definitely enjoy the following dishes which I am going to talk here today.
Although, there are many popular pork recipes which people of Assam and NE India prepare and serve, I am going to talk about mostly about three very must have dishes. They are:
Pork Curry with Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tendergreen)
Pork with Gaanj Tenga (Chilly Pork Curry in Bamboo Shoot)
Chilly Dry Fried Pork
There are some basic things with pork dishes if you really want to taste it in the Assamese way.
First, you should get the most appropriate type of pork meat. I am not an authority on pork, but I have heard the meat from lower neck and lower belly part tastes the best. Then you need to get the meat cut down into smaller pieces so that you can cook it well it in a curry form. An ideal pork piece can be cut in such a way, where you get both fat and little bit of meat with the skin. (See photo)
Second, the usages of spices in Assamese pork dishes. As mentioned in many places throughout various posts in this blog, Assamese dishes do not require much of spices, and its especially applicable for pork dishes. You don’t have to use any of the garam masalas which you might have used for mutton or chicken. What you need for pork dishes are only garlic, ginger and green chilies.
Third thing is, if you get some tender pork meat, then its very good. Otherwise, make sure, you cook the meat till its soft and tender. If the pieces with skin is soft, then you can assume, its done. You also need to make sure; you wash and clean the meat properly before cooking to avoid hygiene issues.
Fourth, you don’t have to use any additional oil to make the curry. You can make the curry in the pork fat itself.
Before getting into the details of the recipes, let me mention a few names without whom my pork fiesta would not have been completed. They are the guys who really helped me to taste, appreciate, understand and experiment pork at various point of time by sharing their ingenious trademark recipes.
Thanks Ghananil for your special dry fried pork. Thanks Debajyoti for your pork and laai xaak recipe. Thanks Jeet for your naga style bamboo shoot pork recipe. Thanks Utpal, Parashar, Anupom, and Himangshu et al for tolerating my experiment with pork and for your praises.
Thanks to all those buddies with whom I had the chance to have Assam tractor licking my fingers on so many occasions.
Thanks to my better half too for letting me cook pork the way I want.
Fourth, you don’t have to use any additional oil to make the curry. You can make the curry in the pork fat itself.
Before getting into the details of the recipes, let me mention a few names without whom my pork fiesta would not have been completed. They are the guys who really helped me to taste, appreciate, understand and experiment pork at various point of time by sharing their ingenious trademark recipes.
Thanks Ghananil for your special dry fried pork. Thanks Debajyoti for your pork and laai xaak recipe. Thanks Jeet for your naga style bamboo shoot pork recipe. Thanks Utpal, Parashar, Anupom, and Himangshu et al for tolerating my experiment with pork and for your praises.
Thanks to all those buddies with whom I had the chance to have Assam tractor licking my fingers on so many occasions.
Thanks to my better half too for letting me cook pork the way I want.
Pork Curry with Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tender green)
Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients:
Fresh Pork Meat (cut into small pieces as shown in the photo) 1 K.G.
Fresh Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tender green) 1 bunch
Optional:
Medium sized tomato 1 no
Big sized potato 1 no
P.S. Most of the Assamese non-vegetarian dishes traditionally contain potato as one of the mandatory ingredient.
Preparation:
Wash the meat properly and keep a few fat pieces (5-6 medium sized) aside from rest of the meat
Take the garlic cloves, remove the skin, and then crush them to a coarse paste. Need not be a fine paste.
Crush ginger and mix it with the garlic
Cut the onions in thin slices
Slit the green chilies lengthwise in two halves
Cut the tomato in 4 halves
Cut the potato in 8 parts
Cooking:
Put a wide pressure cooker on stove and heat it in medium flame till its complete dry and warm. Do not overheat the cooker.
Put the fat pieces which you kept separately after washing into the cooker and make sure they do not stick to the cooker. Keep stirring the pieces with medium flame one.
Oil will come out from the fat pieces slowly and the color of the fat pieces will turn from golden to light brown. (If you want to take out the oil from the pieces faster, then u put the flame to bit on the higher side and cover the cooker temporarily.)
Once sufficient amount of oil comes out, put the cut onions in the cooker and stir fry them till they become golden brown.
Then put the rest of the pork in the cooker and increase the flame.
Put turmeric and red chilly powder and little bit of cumin (jeera) powder if you like and mix them well with the pork. Leave it on medium high flame for 2-3 minutes
Once oil starts coming out reduce the flame and put the ginger garlic paste you prepared. Mix them well with the meat and cover the cooker and leave it for 2-3 minutes.
Uncover the cooker and put the cut potatoes, if you had done it and put the flame at medium heat. Keep frying them for sometime and then put the lid back and let it cook on low heat.
Once the meat is somewhat cooked, take the laai leafs and tear them into small portions by hand and put them in the pressure cooker. You can put small amount of leafs so that you can keep mixing them with the meat by stirring.
Put the lid back on the cooker and reduce the flame. Keep it covered for 5 minutes.
At this point of time, you should get the aroma of Laai xaak and the pork. Check if the leafs are starting to form a lump, then add the tomatoes in the cooker. Fry them in low flame till they start to melt.
Add the slit green chilies and salt.
Add a cup of hot water and increase the flame.
Once the curry starts boiling, put the lid clipped on the cooker and let pressure cook it for 5/6 whistles.
Take the cooker out of the stove and let it cool naturally. Once you can open the cooker, put it back on the stove and mix the curry and the meat properly. Sprinkle some fresh coriander over it and serve hot with rice. Here it would look like:
We are adding this picture of home-cooked dish as an update on request from a few of you out there :)
Ingredients:
Fresh Pork Meat (cut into small pieces as shown in the photo) 1 K.G.
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| Laai Xaak (Mustard Greens) [BTW, this was home grown :), straight from Assam] |
Garlic 8 cloves
Ginger 1 inch
Green Chilies 5 nos
Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder half tsp
Onions 2 nos
Salt to taste
Ginger 1 inch
Green Chilies 5 nos
Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder half tsp
Onions 2 nos
Salt to taste
Medium sized tomato 1 no
Big sized potato 1 no
P.S. Most of the Assamese non-vegetarian dishes traditionally contain potato as one of the mandatory ingredient.
Preparation:
Wash the meat properly and keep a few fat pieces (5-6 medium sized) aside from rest of the meat
Take the garlic cloves, remove the skin, and then crush them to a coarse paste. Need not be a fine paste.
Crush ginger and mix it with the garlic
Cut the onions in thin slices
Slit the green chilies lengthwise in two halves
Cut the tomato in 4 halves
Cut the potato in 8 parts
Cooking:
Put a wide pressure cooker on stove and heat it in medium flame till its complete dry and warm. Do not overheat the cooker.
Put the fat pieces which you kept separately after washing into the cooker and make sure they do not stick to the cooker. Keep stirring the pieces with medium flame one.
Oil will come out from the fat pieces slowly and the color of the fat pieces will turn from golden to light brown. (If you want to take out the oil from the pieces faster, then u put the flame to bit on the higher side and cover the cooker temporarily.)
Once sufficient amount of oil comes out, put the cut onions in the cooker and stir fry them till they become golden brown.
Then put the rest of the pork in the cooker and increase the flame.
Put turmeric and red chilly powder and little bit of cumin (jeera) powder if you like and mix them well with the pork. Leave it on medium high flame for 2-3 minutes
Once oil starts coming out reduce the flame and put the ginger garlic paste you prepared. Mix them well with the meat and cover the cooker and leave it for 2-3 minutes.
Uncover the cooker and put the cut potatoes, if you had done it and put the flame at medium heat. Keep frying them for sometime and then put the lid back and let it cook on low heat.
Once the meat is somewhat cooked, take the laai leafs and tear them into small portions by hand and put them in the pressure cooker. You can put small amount of leafs so that you can keep mixing them with the meat by stirring.
Put the lid back on the cooker and reduce the flame. Keep it covered for 5 minutes.
At this point of time, you should get the aroma of Laai xaak and the pork. Check if the leafs are starting to form a lump, then add the tomatoes in the cooker. Fry them in low flame till they start to melt.
Add the slit green chilies and salt.
Add a cup of hot water and increase the flame.
Once the curry starts boiling, put the lid clipped on the cooker and let pressure cook it for 5/6 whistles.
Take the cooker out of the stove and let it cool naturally. Once you can open the cooker, put it back on the stove and mix the curry and the meat properly. Sprinkle some fresh coriander over it and serve hot with rice. Here it would look like:
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| Gahori Lai Xaak: Home Cooked |
We are adding this picture of home-cooked dish as an update on request from a few of you out there :)
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