Recipes: Manipur's Ooti and Eromba

Manipur boasts a cuisine dictated by its geographic location, climate and abounds in locally-sourced ingredients, reflecting the state's strong cultural heritage. The local people have a deep connection with nature and use natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Its abundant water bodies means fish or nga is an integral part of food traditions. The fish dishes usually eaten are: eromba or stew, thongba or curry, ataoba or fried fish and ngari or fermented fish.

The Meiteis mainly eat fish and chicken, while the hill tribes enjoy their meat, especially pork. To ensure they never run out of meat, every hill tribe home keeps a stock of dry meat that has been smoked in the sun.

Most people have a small kitchen garden, where they grow their own vegetables. Several vegetables in Manipur, are exclusive to this region. Cooking techniques are simple -- usually boiling and steaming. Use of oil is scarce.

Typically, most homes are well-stocked with dried and fermented ingredients, including fish, which are used sparingly throughout the year, when fresh produce is not available.

The food is flavourful and piquant, but not overpowered by spices. Sha machal, or a home-blend spice mix, is often used for flavouring curries. Chillies, most often umorok or king chilly, and bamboo shoots add flavour to the simple food, apart from a condiment called morok metpa or mashed roasted chillies, ngari and garlic, which accompany most meals.

A typical Manipuri meal could be: Steamed rice, ooti or a curry made with yellow split peas, Kansoi (a vegetable stew with ngari), fish curry, stir-fried vegetables, Singju (a salad of seasonal vegetables and morok metpa.

Sweets are not very common. But special occasions see Sana Thonba, which is made from cottage cheese, or the local black rice Chak Hao rice pudding and/or Hei Thongba (cooked seasonal fruits) being served.

Chef Roshan Singh, who is attached to Chak-Khum, a Manipuri cuisine restaurant, New Delhi, presents a recipe for the spicy, light, dal-like ooti called Mangan Utsoi Ooti.

And Chef Keisham Rohin Singh, also of Chak-Khum, prepares a Manipuri stew -- Fermented Bamboo And Taro Stems Eromba.

Some of the local Manipuri ingredients are hard to locate but are available online on North Eastern grocery websites selling condiments required in North Eastern cooking.

Mangan Utsoi Ooti

Recipe by Chef Roshan Singh

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 500 gm matar dal or yellow split peas, soaked
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 100 gm chopped onions
• 100 gm chopped garlic chives
• 100 gm crushed ginger
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp jeera or cumin powder
• 30 gm roughly chopped fresh green dhania or coriander leaves or cilantro
• 100 gm ghee
• 100 ml milk
• 30 gm cooking soda or sodium bicarbonate
• 7-8 dry red chillies, whole
• 300 gm utsoi or fresh bamboo shoot slices
• Salt to taste, about 1½ tsp
• 1 green chilly, slit lengthwise

Method

• Boil or pressure cook the matar dal with the bamboo shoots, turmeric powder, jeera powder in a cooker until its cooked and soft; about 3 whistles.
  Take off heat and keep aside to cool.
• In a small frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the chopped onion, garlic chives, ginger, red chillies, whole jeera and fry a few minutes.
  Add to the dal.
• Now add the cooking soda.
  Boil the dal further for about 10-20 minutes and season with the salt.
  Just before taking off heat add the milk, ghee and the slit green chilly.
• Serve hot with rotis, rice, garnished with the chopped fresh coriander.

Fermented Bamboo And Taro Stems Eromba
Recipe by Chef Keisham Rohin Singh

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 300 gm yendem or taro stem, cut into 2-inch pieces 
• 300 gm fermented bamboo shoots, chopped
• 200 gm potatoes, peeled, chopped
• 20 dry whole red chillies
• 100 gm ngari or fermented fish
• 100 gm chopped tokning-khok or fish mint (a local herb that smells like fish, available for purchase dried online)
• 70 gm fish mint roots, chopped
• 100 gm chopped mayangton or lemon basil, available online for purchase from Northeastern grocery sites
• 100 gm fresh green dhania or coriander leaves or cilantro, chopped
• 30 gm lomba or a medicinal herb, available online for purchase from NE grocery sites
• Salt to taste, about 2 tsp 

Method

• Clean and boil the bamboo shoots in a saucepan twice.
  In a pressure cooker, add in the bamboo shoots, taro stem, potatoes, dry red chillies and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles over medium heat.
  Take off heat and keep aside
• Roast the ngari for a few minutes in a frying pan and keep aside.
• Open up the pressure cooker.
  Remove the red chillies from the cooked vegetables and keep the vegetables aside in the cooker.
• Mash the chillies with the salt and the fermented fish.
  Add back to the vegetables.
• Now add in enough water to make it eromba or stew consistency.
  Add in the chopped herbs -- mayangton, fish mint, fish mint roots, lomba.
• Serve hot with rice or by itself.

• REDIFF FOOD