Recipes: Mizo Pork, Buff Curry

Mizoram's cuisine revolves around its agricultural and environmental bounty, which includes rice, bamboo shoots, fish and leafy greens.

The cooking, with its mellow flavours and variety of local ingredients, has similarities to the rest of the North East and yet still is rather distinct.

The food reflects the nomadic past of the Mizos, bearing testimony to their culture and ethnicity. It stands out for its simplicity, which is seen in the cooking methods. Oil and spices are scarcely used.

A late breakfast and an early dinner before sundown are what they usually eat. Meat, especially pork and beef, forms an integral part of their meals.

Boiling or chhum han or tlak is one of the primary ways of cooking for the Mizos. Typically, the ingredients are boiled in water, usually with no addition of flavouring agents or condiments. But fragrant herbs are often added when boiling the meat.

One of the staples of Mizo food is bamboo shoots. Locals ferment them to create unique flavours that make their way into a number of unusual dishes.

Vawksa Rep, a pork and bamboo shoot stew, is a delicacy that captures the essence of Mizo cooking.

Bai, another traditional preparation, combines vegetables with pork, simmered in a light broth made from filtered water and flavoured with local herbs. Buhchiar is a preparation made on celebratory occasions and comprises a boiled meat stew with rice.

While the preference for freshly-cooked seasonal produce and rice is an essential characteristic of Mizo eating habits, fermentation, drying, smoking, are common practices. Some of the resultant food items are used as seasonings, while others are consumed directly.

Mizoram's love for the environment and sustainable living, is showcased in their cuisine.

Chef Puia Hmar, who is behind Mizo Kitchen, Bengaluru, offers Adrika Anand two recipes. He makes pork with saag and a buffalo curry with just a few ingredients like onion, garlic, ginger and chilly powder.

Smoked Pork with Mustard Greens

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 kg smoked pork
• 350 gm mustard greens
• 500 ml water
• Salt to taste, about 2 tsp 

Method

• Boil the smoked pork in a pressure cooker over medium heat with water for 3 whistles.
  Open the cooker and add the mustard greens, salt.
  Boil for 1 more whistle and take off heat.
• Serve with steamed rice.

Buff Curry Mizo Style

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 kg buffalo meat, curry pieces
• 1 onion chopped
• 5 potatoes, peeled, cubed
• 2-3 cups water
• 200 gm fresh ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp chilly powder
• 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp chilly flakes
• 100 ml oil
• Salt to taste, about 2½ tsp
• Handful fresh green dhania or coriander leaves or cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Method

• Heat the oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat.
  Add the onions and fry till brown.
  Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder.
  Add buffalo pieces, cubed potatoes, chilly flakes, ginger-garlic paste, salt and cook open over low heat for around 5 minutes.
  Add the water and close the pressure cooker.
  Cook over medium heat for about 10 whistles.
• Open the cooker and serve hot, garnished with coriander leaves.

• REDIFF FOOD