North East India Culinary Delights – the States of North East, Incredible India! – Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve ~ Tour Packages & Safari Bookings Official

North East India is home to over 200 tribes and each of these tribal community have brought with them the secret recipes and flavors from the land of their origin which, they have continued to pass in on to their generations. From various herbs to meat preparations these tribes bring forth to you an exquisite blend of mouth watering savory delights. Although the use of meat is prevalent in most of the food preparations, the dishes like the khar, fried mixed vegetables and the yam soup are sure to mesmerize the taste buds of the vegetarians.

However, with the advent of time and adoption of technology leading to modernization has made the modern households of North East India to stick to their favourites of the likes of Maggi, Burgers, KFCs and Ready to Eat recipes but still people find time to visit the markets on a Sunday morning to get home the freshest organic vegetables, fishes/meat for the lunch. This meal on a Sunday afternoon also serves as a get together for the entire members of a family.

Getting back to the traditional cuisine from the region, North East cuisine is very different from the cuisine across the country in the sense that the use of oil and powdered spices are minimal to almost nil. This minimal use doesn’t make the food Bland instead its “Aromatic and Hot” with the use of Garden Herbs, Organic Vegetables and the Second hottest pepper in the world the ‘Bhut Jolokia’. A chilli or two (enough to spark the fire), ginger, garlic, occasionally sesame and a few local herbs are all it takes to churn out a meal with the distinctive flavour of North East. A meal here, is incomplete without a steaming platter of rice, various green vegetables and recipes churned out to get the daily dose of protein via Poultry (duck, geese, chicken), Beef, Pork, Freshwater Fish. Not to forget, all this arranged on a platter and that too with the minimal use of artificial spice.

The seven sister states have a varied taste when it comes to their food preparation. This is mostly due to the use of ingredients in their food preparations. The state of Manipur is better known for the recipes churned out using fish as an ingredient, the state of Nagaland Nagaland is better known for its dishes that use bamboo and meat as primary ingredients. The state of Mizoram prefers it platter to contain boiled and subtle preparations rather than the fried foods. The states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh prefer their main course to contain their version of momos and noodles, but again without much influx of spices. The state of Assam is home to a wide variety of tribes and their influence on the food habits of the locals is very evident. A traditional meal in Assam begins with a khar, a class of dish named after the main ingredient of Papaya and ends with a tenga, a sour dish. The food is usually served in bell metal utensils. Paan, the practice of chewing betel nut, generally concludes a meal.

Jungleideas welcomes you to North East India and be a part of the exciting culinary journey to savour the delights of the traditional cuisine of the region.

Recommended Itinerary for your Visit: Tour of Guwahati, Assam