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The flavours of the northeastern part of India are greatly inspired by the influence of Tibet and Chinese cuisine. People like to use a lot of natural herbs, vegetables, and fruits for cooking their everyday food. However, the use of local produce doesn't mean that the dishes are simple and linear when it comes to their flavours.
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The dishes in the northeastern part of the country are way more complex and meticulous in terms of their preparation compared to a lot of other cuisines in India. A crucial aspect of Northeastern cuisine is steaming food instead of deep-frying or pan-frying it. Hence, there is an array of steamed dishes that are found in the northeastern part of the country that one can enjoy this monsoon.
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* Pukhlein
Pukhlein is a famous dish made from rice flour that is quite popular in Meghalaya. This dish is made from grated coconut, water, rice flour, and jaggery. To make this dish at home, one has to begin by adding some jaggery or sugar powder to the rice flour. Then add a little bit of water to make a thick batter, along with some grated coconut. Add this batter to banana leaves and then steam it until it gets cooked properly. Pukhlein is served nice and warm as a sweet treat to everyone.
* Momos
Momos are not native to India but became very popular in the northern part of the country because of people from the Northeast. As stated above, the north-eastern cuisine is deeply inspired by Chinese and Tibetan culinary practices. Momos are quite popular in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. These are made by taking all-purpose flour and making dough out of it to form the external layer of the momos. In this thin layer of all-purpose flour dough, one has to add a stuffing that can be made from vegetables or minced meat. One can also add some salt, black pepper, and soy sauce, along with ginger, garlic, and onions. These momos have to be secured properly from the top and steamed until they become soft and edible.
* Komola Kheer
The komola kheer is a special kind of dessert that is famous in Tripura and is made from orange peels, cardamom powder, milk, sugar, and rice flour. To make this kheer, one has to start by chopping the orange peels into fine pieces and then mixing them with milk, sugar, and cardamom powder. All the ingredients have to be mixed until the mixture starts thickening. Then the next step is to add rice flour to the mixture to make a thick slurry out of it. Let all the ingredients come together very well and keep cooking it until one has attained the desired consistency.
* Zan
Zan is a very simple snack that is made from a couple of ingredients and is quite popular in Meghalaya. It is made by mixing some rice flour with water and salt to make a very smooth batter. This batter is poured into very small cups that are generally made from the leaves of bananas or the leaves of turmeric plants. Zan is steamed until it sets properly and then it is served with some spicy chutney or flavourful curry on the side.
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* Pitha
Pitha is an indulgent and very popular dessert from Assam that is made from a mixture of rice, flour, jaggery powder, and grated coconut. One would also need banana leaves for wrapping the dish. The process of making these sweet snacks starts with mixing the rice flour with jaggery powder and grated coconut with a little bit of water to make a dough. The next step is to roll the dough into small discs and then flatten them into the shape of discs. Each of these discs is wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed until they are properly cooked.
