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| Labra Assamese Cuisine |
Today on day 3 of the Blogging Marathon
let’s stop at Assam!
Think Assam
and think Assam tea!! The delicious brew that wakes me up and gets me going!
So is Assam
all about tea only?
No Assam (Asom, Axom) is a state of India in the north-eastern region. Its capital is Dispur,
located within the municipal area of Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys along with the Karbi Anglong and the North
Cachar Hills. Assam is surrounded by six of the other Seven Sister States.
Geographically Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a
narrow strip of land in West
Bengal called the Siliguri
Corridor or "Chicken's Neck".
Assam is rich in culture, ethnic groups, languages/dialects
spoken and literature. It is known for Assam
tea, large and old petroleum resources (the first oil reserves of India were
discovered in Assam in the late 19th century), Assam silk and for its rich biodiversity. Assam has successfully
conserved the one-horned Indian
rhinoceros from near extinction,
along with the tiger and numerous species of birds, and it provides one of the
last wild habitats for the Asian
elephant. It is becoming an increasingly popular destination for wildlife
tourism, and Kaziranga and Manas are both World Heritage Sites. Assam was also known for its Sal tree forests and forest products, much
depleted now. A land of high rainfall, Assam is endowed with lush greenery and
the mighty river Brahmaputra,
whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a unique
hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic
environment.
Me I am
interested in the cuisine of Assam as Assamese cuisine is still obscure.
"Assamese style of cooking that is a confluence of cooking
habits of the hills that favour fermentation and drying as forms of
food preservation and those from the plains that provide fresh vegetables and
abundance of fish from its many rivers and ponds; the staple food here is rice.
Assamese cooking is a mixture of different indigenous styles
with considerable regional variations and some external influences.
The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over
fire and strong flavours due mainly to the use of endemic exotic fruits and
vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented.
Typically, an Assamese plate would contain bhaat (rice) with dal (lentils), masor jool (fish curry), with mangso (meat curry) or xaak and bhaji (herbs and vegetables).
Rice is one of the main dishes in Assam, and variety of
different rice are grown and eaten in different ways, roasted, grounded, boiled
or just soaked. Fish curries made of rou, illish, or chitol are the most favourite. If not a
curry, simply fried fish. Birds like ducks and pigeon are also used in dishes.
Pork and Mutton dishes are mainly popular among the younger generation.
Another favourite combination can be looci (puffed bread), a curry which can be
vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and asar (pickle).
Two main characteristic of a traditional meal in Assam are Khar and Tenga.
A class of dishes named after the main ingredient Khar and a sour dish is aTenga.
Khorisa (bamboo
shoot) are used at times for flavours in curries. They also can be preserved
and made into pickles. Koldil (Banana Flower) and Squash are also
cooked into delicious sabji's.
The food is usually served in bell metal utensils.
Courtesy:
Wikipedia
