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Discover the taste of India: North East Indian Food

The north eastern part of India is perhaps the most under estimated region when it comes to food. In

reality, the seven sisters, Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and

Manipur, along with Sikkim, have a wide assortment of culinary styles influenced greatly by topography,

climate, geographic location, and neighbouring regions.

The items are comparatively less spicy than the other

parts of the country, but no less tasty. Food is

prepared with minimum oil or ghee. Smoked and

boiled preparations are also in vogue. Dishes

prepared with duck meat, bamboo shoots etc are

very much popular in North-East Zone. Smoking and

consumption of alcoholic beverages are common inboth men and women in the hilly states.

Tripura is a state that enjoys close proximity to the

Bay of Bengal and shares boundaries with

Bangladesh. The resident community is mostly

Bengali and panache of cooking styles from East India

and Bangladesh as well as their love for fish can be

found in Tripura, especially Agartala. The dialect of 

Tripura and Assam is also Bengali, with some minor

variations. Rice is the staple food in the North East,and is almost part of every meal. The home made

sweets made out of rice are a specialty of Assam. The

Assamese also consume a huge variety of rice-based

breakfast cereals with milk or yoghurt or thick cream.

Normally jaggery or sugar is added used.  Quite

contrary to the preference for non vegetarian food in

the North East, vegetarian delicacies are found

abundantly in Assam.

People from Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland are

hard core non vegetarians, and love fish and meat.

The people love tea, called “Zu”. Iromba, an eclectic

combination of fish, vegetables and fermented

bamboo shoots is popular. Also famous is Kabok, a

traditional speciality from Manipur, made of fried rice

with a world of vegetables added in.

Chinese influence can be seen in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. In fact, Shillong is often

referred to as the “Mecca of Chinese Food”. The meat preference is tilted in favour of pork. Jadoh - a

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