Meghalaya Thali | Meghalaya Cuisine

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 .. 

Rice dishes

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.

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.