Meghalaya Cuisine

The magnificent Meghalaya is a land of dewy mornings and balmy evenings. This picturesque state is bordered by Assam to its North and Northeast and Bangladesh to its South and Southwest. Meghalaya is inhabited by three tribes, the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia. It is a predominantly Christian state, but a small minority still profess the indigenous beliefs. Its cuisine reflects the peoples’ values and views, making it a part of their cultural identity.

Meghalayan food is usually free of adulteration. A quintessential meal consists of a plateful of rice, meat, and vegetables, which may be accompanied by a salad or chutney. Meghalaya cuisine is minimalist with very little use of spices, ensuring ingredients do not overpower any other. The food is wholesome, low in fat and high in nutrition. Its organic ingredients, which are mostly homegrown, renders an originality of taste. Cereals, pulses, roots, tubers, fruits, dairy, fats and jaggery are also a part of the diet.

Life in the villages of Meghalaya is unhurried and purposeful. A person living in the villages might have 3 or 4 meals a day that starts with the customary refreshing morning tea. If one were to travel to Meghalaya, one would come across landscapes of quaint hamlets, with locally run tea shops and restaurants on the sidelines of the road. Tea and rice-based goodies are had sitting on long benches and low stools and serve as a filling breakfast. A wood fired oven and hearth are the traditional cooking methods. Houses in rural Meghalaya traditionally have a courtyard where the mortar and pestle, used to pound the various rice grains, is installed. Any major cooking, like meat dishes, is usually done outside in the yard under the clear skies, and if it rains then the cooking is moved to the verandah or an indoor hearth.

In Meghalaya, guests are welcomed with a generous serving of rice-based snacks and the lal cha. The beloved lal cha, or red tea is a pleasant and sweet drink, which is a milder version of the conventional Indian black tea. Its mild flavour is just enough to wake you up on a wet cosy morning. An alternative sweet milky tea is had with rice cakes, and may also be consumed as a meal starter. Lunch and dinner are usually similar with no stark distinction in the palate.

Rice forms an integral part of the food habits of Meghalaya. Fertile rice fields enabled the tribesmen to build a cuisine around this crop. It is consumed in various styles and with various accompaniments. Jadoh, literally translated as rice meat, is one of the most common foods. It is cooked with short grain red rice and pork, or sometimes with pork blood. Ja phandieng is another famous dish made by cooking rice with cassava. For this, the cassava skin is removed, and sun dried for a few days, ground using a wooden thlong (mortar) and synrei (pestle) and made into flour which is then cooked with rice. Cassava powder is also used to make steamed cakes, which are commonly sold in the market. Ja tle is rice mixed with palm powder, which may also be cooked with red rice to make steamed cakes. Ja stem (yellow rice) gets its name from the turmeric that is added to the rice. It is an easy to prepare, and convenient light meal. Ja riewhadem is another rice dish cooked with dried and ground maize. Flat rice,which is made by pounding the rice grains, pairs extremely well with lal cha.

People of Meghalaya are extremely fond of meat. A meal is incomplete without a meat dish, and the most favoured meat is pork. Other meat like ducks, fowls, pheasants, hare are also consumed along with the more common chicken, beef, mutton, and fish.

Doh jem is a popular Khasi meat delicacy. It is made primarily from the inner parts of pig or cow, such as the stomach, intestines, and clotted blood. The innards are prepared with sesame seeds, which have antioxidants due to its richness in minerals such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus and vitamins such as niacin and thiamine. These properties help in reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and in preventing degenerative diseases. Doh jem tastes best served with rice dishes like Putharo. Meat is also made into salads, like Doh Khleh, which is a salad of minced pork, onions, and chillies. Doh Sain or Soh Sniang Nei-long is pork cooked with sesame seeds, served with rice and with a nutty flavour. Other meat dishes like the Mylliem chicken, which is a garlic-based gravy dish, is also very popular.

Dakharang or Kharang is a smoked fish dish, associated with the Jaintia community. It can be had as a curry, chutney, or salad as its rich smoky flavour pairs extremely well with blander rice-based dishes. Na Kam Bitchi is a spicy, dry fish gravy of the Garo tribe. Garos also have other delicacies like the Do o Kapa, which is a chicken dish cooked with indigenous soda. Another famous Garo meat dish is the Wak Tangsek Pura, which is made by cooking pork with green vegetables, spices, powdered rice, and Karchi/Karitchi (indigenous soda). Tungtap, a chutney of fermented fish, is another local favourite.

Rice based snacks like Pu saw, which is made of local red rice, are extremely popular in Meghalaya. The rice is cleaned and soaked in water for two hours, drained using Khoh (basket), grounded and made into a paste by adding some water, edible soda, and sugar. The paste is then poured into a pot and heated charcoals are added on the lid, cooking it to desired softness. Other snacks like, Pumaloi (Khasi) or Tpulandong (Jaintia), are made by steaming powdered rice in a cauldron. Putharo, a flat steamed rice cake, is also prepared in a local earthen pan called Sarao. Pu syeb is another soft and crumbly rice cake made in a similar fashion.

Pu khlein, is made by mixing powdered rice with jaggery and then frying it in a pan to make a deep thick paste. Pu doh, is another rice based snack that is stuffed with the juiciness of pork meat. Pu sla, is a sweet dish made by mixing powdered rice with jaggery and wrapping in Ka la-met or packing leaves and then steaming it in a pan. Pu Tyndong or Ja Tyndong is a rice-based cake cooked in bamboo shafts, giving it a cylindrical or cuboidal shape. Pu Khadu (Khasi) or Tpu Khadu (Jaintia), is a circular bangle shaped fried rice snack. It gets its quirky shape due to the dough being rolled by hand and shallow fried in oil, and is mostly eaten during festivals and other occasions.

A characteristic of many locals of Meghalaya is the chewing of betel nuts, usually unripe ones. Kwai, as it is locally called, is betel nut wrapped in a leaf and lightly smothered with lime paste. It is common to have one post a hearty meal.

Vegetables like Jarain (buck wheat), Jamyrdoh or Macha Duribak (fish wort), cabbage, bamboo shoots, mustard leaves, tapioca, mushrooms and Jatira (water celery) are also included in the diet. Jatira is especially popular and is made into a salad using light garnishes. Muli Kleh is a simple radish salad made by mixing small pieces of radish with sliced onions, lemon, salt, chilli, and roasted perilla. Phan kheh, is another refreshing medley of mashed potatoes and an assortment of herbs, which tends to be easy on the stomach. Most locals also have pruned home gardens of vegetables and herbs to meet their basic needs.

Vegetables are also consumed as chutneys, like the Me Kin or Sobok Chatni which is made by mashing wild banana flowers with chillies into a succulent accompaniment. A famous dish of the Garo community is the Kalchior Katchi/Karitchi, a garnish for curries prepared by burning dry pieces of plantain or bamboo shoots. The ashes are then drained using conical shaped indigenous bamboo strainers which are lined with plantain leaves. Today, this is slowly getting replaced by the more readily available soda.

Forest produce like wild fruits, nuts and berries form a major part of the diet, especially amongst the rural population. Soh ot heh, or sweet chestnuts fall to the forest floor once ripe and make for a warm roasted snack on an autumnal evening. The rural population also sells these at weekly markets in bigger towns, where they may not be widely available, establishing a modest source of income. Attempts have also been made by government and local bodies to tap into the horticultural aspects of producing these on a larger, enterprising scale.

Soh Phie, commonly known as bayberry or box myrtle, is a sweet and sour fruit that marks the arrival of Spring. Its crunchiness and juiciness are enjoyed raw, or in its pickled form, as the fruit perishes within a few days of being plucked. Its pickled version is immensely popular, and it may also be made into jams. Rich in anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, it is believed to cure dysentery. The bark of the tree is also believed to be effective in treating asthma, fever, chronic bronchitis, lung infections and toothache, while the leaf and root may be used to treat worms and jaundice. Ladies sell it in the market in small packets usually premixed with rock salt, chilli flakes and some mustard oil or sesame chutney.

Sohphlang (Flemingia Vestita), is another commonly consumed fruit native to Meghalaya. It has a mildly sweet, nut-like flavour and is eaten with salt, chilly or with a sesame seeds chutney. Sold by street hawkers, these are a common sight in the bazaars of bigger towns. Soh Thri is another sour winter fruit also consumed with chutney and black salt. Soh Bel juice is made into a refreshing spring drink, and Soh Phyrshong (star fruit) may be consumed raw or made into stews, curries, jams, and pickles. Sohiong (Prunus Nepalensis), is another local berry which makes for excellent jams and jellies and is a perfect topping for baked goods. A monsoon fruit, it is also sold in its powdered form and is mixed with water to make juices. Dieng soh Ramdieng, commonly known as Burmese grapes, are used to make wine as it has a pleasant acidic taste. The locals also make wine from the lovely Rhododendron flowers which are found in colourful abundance.

The markets of Meghalaya are a lively affair! With designated areas for vegetables, fruits, red meat, fish, snacks, and other food products, markets in Meghalaya’s bigger towns are extremely colourful. The Lewduh market in Shillong is the oldest market in Northeast India. Here, everything you need can be found in one place. Its numerous food stalls are usually run by the women folk. Street food is very popular in Shillong and includes, jhal muri (puffed rice mixed with spices), roasted corn, alu muri (puffed rice mixed with steamed potatoes, tamarind juice, chaat masala, and diced onions), shredded raw papaya, mangoes, plums, and other fruits. Barbecued pork and chicken meat on skewers are sold with salad accompaniments and are a common sight in the night bazaars.

The much-loved momos, fried rice, and chowmein were brought in by the early waves of Chinese and Nepali immigrants, who first settled in West Bengal and then further travelled East to reach Shillong. Today, food in Meghalaya’s cosmopolitan towns feature local and fusion delicacies. The food habits are a hearty combination of indigenous culinary practices and its many different migrant populations. Among them, Assamese, Bengali, North Indian and Chinese influences are widely observed. This is also because ingredients from these cuisines are more readily accessible as they are produced on a much larger scale.

Meghalaya’s culinary practices feature food which is slow cooked in careful, unhurried ways. Almost all cooking employs a simple and similar process. The dishes are prepared with easy to acquire, home grown ingredients that require minimal cooking time, and the food is nutritious and delicious. True to its name, when in Meghalaya, you are feasting amongst the clouds.