Ok now I at last starting my thalis again and today we are landing on Meghalaya . Meghalaya is one among the seven sisters again a very difficult state to hunt for recipes but I have to read some of the articles to get some idea about the cuisine in this state . As for other north east state even this state has the staple food which people in this state prefer meat and fish a lot. So for vegetarian there are very less options available .But as we are doing at home we get so many options to substitute and taste the veg version of the same. The cuisine varies from the tribes here the most popular tribes here are Khasi, Jaintia and Garo. Popular dishes from Khasi and jaintia are Jadoh in which ja is the rice and doh is the pork used, Ki kpu, tung-rymbai, pickle bamboo shoots. Garo tribe has their own popular dishes and they have simple foods is kappa which can be made with meat or vegetable,Minil songa ( sticky rice). sakkin gata, momo are some popular foods from this tribe. And the most common thing from all the tribe is the fermented rice beer.
So I have summed up recipes from all the tribes Ja dai which is a simple rice made with lentils . The only spice used in the tribes here are ginger , green chillies, Black sesame seeds.. all the foods are mildly spiced . I have adapted the garo style Kappa and made using potato. Daineiiong is spl dal made with black sesame seeds . Black sesame is used most often in the dishes here in meghalaya ..Shana jhiej is the fried the bengal gram dal and sesame seeds . Other than the food Here people like to have lots of organic boiled veggies as such which is very healthy. Puklein is a very delicious snack available all over meghalaya market . As Rice is the staple food here they make many snacks with rice flour and one amaong them is puklein. Khleh is the varieties of salad they have and they have many version of Khleh , here I have made the lettuce salad as its very popular there. You can find many western veggies found in these regions and lettuce is one among the veggie which is consumed a lot here. I referred this article here for the recipes.. Now lets move to the recipes ..
Jastem
Recipe Source – here
Ingredients
Toor dal – 1/4 cup
Rice – 1/2 cup
Ginger Paste – 1/2 tsp
Onion, chopped – 2 tbsp
Salt as needed
Oil – 1 tsp
Method
- In a pressure cooker Heat oil add ginger paste, onion and saute them.
- When onions are translucent add Rice and dal and mix well.
- Add 1 1/2 cup of water , salt to taste and pressure cook for 2-3 whistle till they are done.
- Serve them hot.
Ingredients
Rice – 1 cup ( cooked)
Black Sesame seeds – 1/4 cup
Green chillies – 2 Nos
Onion – 2 tbsp ( chopped)
Oil – 1 tbsp
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Method
- Dry roast the sesame seeds in a pan .
- Transfer it to a blender when cools down a bit add little water and make a smooth paste.
- Heat oil in a pan , add green chillies , Onion and ginger paste.
- Saute them, then add the sesame paste and saute them for a while.
- Then add the plain rice and mix well till well combined.
- Serve them Hot .
Potato Kappa ( Garo’s Style)
Recipe Source : Garo Recipes
Ingredients
Potato – 2 Nos
Green chillies – 2 Nos
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Cooking soda – 1/4 tsp
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Water as needed
Salt to taste
Method
- In a sauce pan add 1/2 cup water, salt and bring to boil.
- Add the chopped potatoes, turmeric pd and green chillies.
- Simmer the flame and add Cooking soda cook the mixture till the potato is soft .
- Simmer the gravy till it thickens.
- Serve it hot with rice.
Ingredients
Toor dal – 1/2 cup
Black sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 2 Nos
Oil – 2 tsp
salt, to taste
Method
- Pressure cook the toor dal for 3 whistles .
- Once the pressure subsides , remove the lid and mash the dal well .
- In a pan dry roast the sesame seeds till they pop and transfer it to a blender.
- Add a little water to and blend it a form a paste.
- Heat oil in a sauce pan add ginger garlic paste and green chillies.
- Saute them well then add the mashed dal to it.
- Also add the sesame paste and boil the dal well till they come together.
Ingredients
Bengal gram / channa dal – 1/2 cup
Green chillies – 2 Nos
Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Ginger – 1″ inch piece ( chopped)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Method
- Soak channa dal for 1 hour in water.
- Drain the water and blend the channa dal and green chillies to a coarse paste.
- Now transfer the coarse paste to a bowl.
- Add salt, sesame seeds, ginger and mix well.
- Shape them like vadas and keep them ready.
- Heat oil and fry these vadas to golden brown from both side .
- Serve them Hot.
Ingredients
Rice flour – 1/2 cup
Jaggery – 1/4 cup
Water – 2 tbsp or as needed to melt the jaggery
Oil for frying
Method
- Heat water and jaggery in a sauce pan.
- Let them melt and turn off the flame .
- Add the rice flour and Mix them well.
- Mix them and form a smooth dough.
- Heat oil in a kadai.
- Divide the dough and shape them to disc.
- Fry them till golden brown from both sides.
Boil some sweet potatoes in little amount of water till they are soft .
Ingredients
Lettuce – 1 cup ( shredded)
Cabbage – 1/2 cup ( shredded)
Green chillies- 2 Nos ( chopped)
Mustard oil – 1 tbsp
Pepper as needed
Salt to taste
Method
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients .
- Serve them chilled with a meal.