Five traditional dishes of Assam you must try at least once

The Northeast states of India are well-known for their distinct, mouth watering cuisines. They are noted for their generous use of rice, fish and khar, minimal oil use, and medicinal herbs. Assam is one such state, which offers an abundant variety of scrumptious dishes, in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Assamese food is often closely linked with agricultural seasons and there is a culture and history behind the food being prepared.

So let’s dive into five essential recipes of Assam that everyone must try at least once in their life…

Aloo Pitika

Aloo Pitika is an extremely common and widely loved food in Assam. Also consumed in other states of India, Aloo Pitika is a comfort food for many households due to its easy preparation, minimal ingredients and short cooking duration. The most important part of this side course is potatoes, which are boiled for 15-20 minutes and mashed in a mixing pot.

Mix the mashed potatoes with a cup of chopped green chillies, red chillies, ginger or garlic. The choice of which vegetables and chillies to mesh with the mash potatoes is all up to you. You can combine the mashed potatoes with tomatoes, coriander, boiled egg or onions depending on what taste you prefer. But the most popular type of aloo pitika is the brinjal pitika, in which the mash is mixed with fried pieces of eggplant.

This simple, but delicious, dish is great to introduce to guests at your home for appetisers. And it smells great!

Assamese fish curry

No list for Assamese food is complete without the nationally renowned fish curry.

The savoury dish’s prime ingredient is rohu fish, which can be cooked with a diverse range of souring agents. Some chefs put in elephant apples while others utilize jackfruit. Other options for souring agents are fillets, jujube, tamarind, mustard paste, catfish and creeping woodsorrel leaves. But the

most preferred choice of ingredient for flavouring is tomatoes, which give the curry a lip-smackingly tangy taste.

First, rub the pieces of fish with salt and turmeric. And fry them in mustard oil on a pan. Now drain the pieces and set them aside. Use the remaining oil in the pan to stir fry slices of tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt and other spices. It’s up to you what you’d like in this aromatic potpourri. Finally, add the fish to the pan and pour in two cups of water. When your Assamese fish curry is ready, garnish it with coriander or tulsi leaves.

Although it takes time to prepare this Special, the resulting aroma and taste (not to mention its belly-filling potential) are absolutely worth it.

Khar with Green Papaya

If you have a vegetarian appetite, we’ve got a tasty recipe for you too. This dish combines khar soda with green papaya to make a healthy side dish eaten at lunch and dinner.

Khar is a vital part of food culture in Assam because it is a super-healthy extract that is scavenged from the sun dried peels of feather back bananas (locally called ‘Bhim Kol’ )… but only after they are burned to semi-ashes. The medicinal extract from these burnt chars, mixed with water, acts like a soda that has a refreshing earthy flavour. Khar dwi, or kharwi, became popular in the state as early as British colonial times when salt was too expensive for common village folk to use in their meals. So they took the local ingredient of banana leaf ash to make kharwi instead.

Just like fish curry, there are several ingredients you can choose from when making your Khar dish. Some people apply black lentils, gourds, greens or fish heads to their kharwi. But perhaps, the most preferred option is the green papaya khar.

Kharwi is so widely eaten in Assam that there is a phrase used among the Assamese to describe a fellow who swears by kharwi or “embodies” all its traits. This person is designated as a ‘Khar Khuwa Axomiya’ (Khar Eating Assamese).

Dao onla

A major dish for the Bodo community in Assam is the Dao Onla (meaning ‘Chicken & Rice Powder’). It is a meat dish which holds deep cultural roots for Bodo families.

One way to prepare this dish is by marinating chicken with a melange of stir fried spices, coriander, green chillies, garlic and ginger. Leave the marinated chicken aside and split some black gram. Then finally, stir fry the meat and black gram on a pan while pouring khar water (khar dwi) over it. As mentioned before, kharwi is a vital part of Assamese food culture, but especially Bodo food culture.

Sesame Pitha

Rice. Coconut. And Black sesame. We see these three beloved ingredients come together in the all-famous Pitha.

The pitha is an extremely popular side dish and dessert in Assam. It is linked with the agricultural festival of Bihu as it is prepared from harvested rice and served to guests during this time. Bihu is one of the three most celebrated festivals in Assam.

There are three main kinds of Bihu observed throughout the year: Kati/Kongali Bihu (when harvest season begins), Magh/Bhogali Bihu (when harvest season concludes) and Bohag/Rongali Bihu (new planting season begins in springtime). Pitha is widely eaten by the Assamese in all three holidays.

To prepare pitha, you soak glutinous sticky rice for four hours and keep it aside. Then you ground it into a fine powder and put it in the refrigerator for the night. Next, you fry layers of it on a thick pan. Add sugar syrup and black sesame to it. Then roll the rice paste around the sesame to make proper rolls. Make sure it is done at a low flame so that your hands do not get burnt. Also be careful so that it doesn’t crumble. Let it dry. Your pithas are ready!

There are different forms of pithas and no one way to prepare them. Some pithas are stuffed with a concoction of coconut, jaggery and sugary syrup. Others are filled with the more desired black sesame. Did you know that in one method, pithas are stuffed into a hollow bamboo and roasted over the fire? The result is a cute, cylindrical rice roll.

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