Manipur food recipes

1. Kangsoi

Kangsoi is the anipuri answer to stew. As humble as it is, it is a healthy and good food for the body and soul (almost like chicken soup!).

Ingredients:

• 1 medium potato – cut into roundels
• 1 medium size tomato -de-seeded and sliced into chunks
• About 15-20 French beans – de-stringed and snapped
• 1 small onion – sliced
• 1 small zucchini – peeled and sliced
• 1 carrot – peeled and sliced
• 1 cup peas (if available, use whole peas i.e. with the shells on)
• 2 medium sized ngari – steamed or roasted
• 3-4 dried red chillies – soaked in hot water till soft
• 1 cm ginger – sliced
• Salt to taste
• Nga ayaiba (smoked fish) – optional

Preparation:

Mash the ngari with the red chillies and keep aside. (This is my husband’s technique. He cookskangsoi better than me. i go for the easy way out – i.e. put in the ngari and red chillies in thekangsoi and let the boiling water take care of the job. Just this once, i did it his way!).

In a saucepan, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the sliced onion and ginger and cover and cook till onion is softened. Add the vegetables. Season with salt. Add the smoked fish and the mashed ngari. Cover and simmer till the vegetables are cooked. Easy peasy.

Enjoy with steamed rice and omelette (my favourite combination) or with yen angouba (fried chicken).

2. Soibum thongba (Fermented bamboo shoot curry)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• Salt
• Turmeric (1 teaspoon should do, i guess. But feel free to add more or less)
• Chilli powder (as per your taste)
• Oil
• 3-4 steak/piece of fried fish (any variety will do but catfish or ngakra goes best with soibum. i used katla)

Preparation:

If you are using the ‘real’ soibum, you would need to soak it in salt water and wash it properly to remove the tartness. If you are using the canned variety which is milder, just wash it in running water and you are good to go.

Heat some oil in a wok. When hot, put in the sliced onion (i don’t like ginger and garlic except in fish or meat dishes but you can add them if you like). Fry till translucent. Add the turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powder and fry for some time. Add the potato and the bamboo shoots. Fry till the shoots get limp. Add the desired quantity of water and season with salt. Add the fried fish. Cover and simmer till everything is cooked.

Serve with steamed rice.