Kumaoni Cuisine- A Gastronomical Delight!

When I landed in Sarmoli in April this year to celebrate my birthday with birds, I had no idea of the gastronomical journey that awaited me. While I knew that, as in most villages, the food would be fresh from the farm to the kitchen, I did not expect Kumaoni food to be so distinct and unique. Why? Because I had never heard of Kumaoni food before. And I wonder why?

Bhaang ki chutney- chutney made with cannabis seeds.

I stayed with two different hosts during my 10 day stay there. While with the first host, I tried a few unique things like bhaang ki chutney, and Bhaang ke pakode, it was my second host who completely blew my mind with the varieties she whipped up for every meal.

Kumaoni food is best described as simple, earthy, rustic and robust. The meals are essentially simple but bursting with flavours and full of nutrients. It is characterized by the use of herbs that are unique to the place, such as Timur, Jimboo, Gandhrayani, etc. In the kitchen of my second home-stay, all meals were prepared only on the traditional 'chulha' or hearth and not on cooking gas. So, by default everything was slow cooked and the chulha imparts a distinct taste to the food while enhancing its taste several notches higher.

All the dishes were served on Kansa plates and bowls. Traditionally in India, Kansa (an alloy of copper and tin) was used for eating because as per Ayurveda, the alkalising properties of the metal are very beneficial for one's body. That, and the love and enthusiasm with which Bhanu, my hostess, cooked each and every meal, satiated my body and soul. 

My hostess cooking on the 'chulha'.

The cute kitchen from the outside.

                            You may also like my post on Himachali Cuisine.

Jimboo leaves being sun dried.

Bhaang seeds/ Cannabis seeds.

My second host, Saraswati Thakuni’s sweet grand-daughter named Bhanu was the magician in the kitchen. With a commendable passion and pride in Kumaoni food, she put up a splendid display and gave me a taste of most things that Kumaon is known for!

Giant radishes in the farm.

You may like my blog post on Cuisine of the Lepchas.

Cabbage fields.

Here’s what I ate. Be warned you’ll be extremely hungry by the time you finish reading this post!

My first meal was plain parathas, delectable rajma and Bhaang ki chutney. And the wheat, rajma and bhaang, everything is from their own farm. Need I say how I savored every morsel of it.

Rajma and parathas.

Rotis, malka daal and saag.

Most of the days I was there, there were heavy hailstorms and thunder. My room had a metal sheet over the tiled roof, and the sound of the hail stones hitting the roof was so amplified that at one point I thought that monsters were trying to rip down the room to get me. But I’m safe and sound writing this a few months later! Blame it on my wild imagination! One such evening after I returned from my illustration assignment, my host prepared some comforting soup called ‘Jia’. It’s a soup made with roasted rice, salt and a herb called ‘thuner’. This soup was served with some jaggery.

Mundve ki roti, masoor dal and gobi subzi.

A fritter called Chunni.

One breakfast was lavish with Mundve ka halva, a Kumaoni noodles called ‘Kokla’ and jimboo parathas. Mundve is a millet widely eaten in Uttarakhand and is similar to finger millet (ragi, nachni) in colour and taste. Jimboo is a herb that is eaten fresh mixed with parathas or dried and used in gravies and lentils. I loved the Kokla so much that Bhanu made that on the morning I was leaving and packed some for me to eat on the way back.

Thoya rice. 

Thoya seeds- a bit like cumin seeds but much stronger in flavour.

Mundve ka halva, jimboo parathas and Kumaoni noodles called Kokla.

With tea, one time I was served a fritter called ‘chunni’ made with wheat flour, sugar and rice flour.

Another herb that is liberally used is Thoya. It looks like cumin seeds much has a much stronger flavor. Bhanu made some thoya fried rice with it for dinner one day.

Bhutt (black soya bean) being cooked.

Close up of bhutt.

Mundve ki roti, bhutt daal and muthiyas.

There is another pulse called ‘bhutt’ (black soya bean)which Sarmoli has stopped growing but which they procure from another village. Bhanu had got some to cook for me. It’s very high in nutrition and I was told that her grandmother’s generation and before that, women had a meal of this bhutt dal and worked in the farm and fields the whole day and remained strong even in their old age.

Jiya soup with jaggery.

The herb called gandhraini.

Thuner, a bark of a tree also used as a culinary herb.

Atte ka halva.

One day I offered to cook a Gujarati dish called Muthiya. It’s made of wheat flour, bottle gourd and some chickpea flour. 

Dried bitter gourds.

Clockwise from left- Dubka, dried bitter gourd subzi, Phonn and roti.

I did a whole day trek-cum-bird watching trip to the upper reaches of the forest and my host had packed some out-of-the-world delicious gobi parathas and rajma. Gosh! I have never tasted gobi parathas as scrumptious as this.

Rajma and gobi parathas.

Khajura.

My trek guide had carried a typical Kumaoni snack called Khajura with him made by the local women. It’s similar to shakkar para but coarser.

Timur, a spice like black pepper.

This is the timur tree, full of thorns. Wonder how they pick the timur from this?

The hosts has organized a pooja one day so for Prasad they made Atte ke halva, made with wheat flour, sugar, ghee and milk.

A pancake called Puli.

This is a fragrant root which is fed to the cattle. It was so fragrant, was tempted to take a bite! 

In Kumaon, they grow a bitter gourd which is actually sweet. They call it meetha karela. They dry it and use it round the year.

Bhanu, my sweet host cooking spinach. 

Rotis, spinach saag, Dubka. 

Another fried rice called Bhumla with spinach saag and Dubka.

Another very traditional dinner was a dish called Phonn which is made with buttermilk, mundva flour, rice, timur, bhaang seeds and a tadka of jimboo. This was served with Dubka, a dish made with butt daal, and a herb called gandhrayani.

Giant sized lemon trees. The Kumaonis pickle these lemons.

See how big it is?

For breakfast another day I was served a sweet pancake called ‘puli’ made with wheat flour, sugar and milk. This was served with curd.

                               You may like my post on the Rhododendron Trail.

I did a sketch of the rhododendron flowers.

A local woman Bina, making the rhododendron juice.

Five days was a short time indeed to experience Bhanu's hospitality. I have promised to go back and soak up more of the mountains, cuisine and peace. 

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A Taste of Pahari/Himachali Cuisine.

Local food, according to me is not just food, but a glimpse into the culture, tradition and lifestyle of a community. During this trip to Himachal Pradesh where I volunteered for apple harvesting, I was fortunate to get a taste of traditional Pahari/Himachali food. I stayed in two different homes and gorged on finger licking food in both and overate each time!! In some cases after gobbling up on half the food on my plate, it occurred to me that I should have taken a picture. So here are some of the dishes I ate. Please make sure you eat something before reading this post or keep something ready to eat immediately after, for the pictures may set your gastric juices flowing!!

Aloo Paratha served with curd, butter and pickle.

I had visited Kharapathar and Ruhil Dhar, at an altitude of 8000 and 6500 feet above sea level respectively. The cold climate there makes ghee and butter a very important food item. I saw that ghee is liberally poured over most dishes like dal, parathas, puris, rice, and kheer and butter is served with parathas and puris. All homes in the villages own cows so milk and milk products are fresh and home made.

You may also like my post on Kumaoni food.

Delicious Puris and chole

Other high protein food items that are commonly made is Chole, Rajma, chana dal and paneer dishes.

This kettle is used for serving ghee, not tea!!

Parathas are the most common breakfast item. The varieties that I got to taste were ajwain paratha, aloo and paneer paratha, all served with curd, and dollops of butter. Eating those parathas served hot and fresh with the butter melting on them, and with the view of the mountains was an enhanced sensory experience.

Sweet siddu served with ghee and butter

One of the dishes I relished the most was siddu. It’s a steamed dish in which the outer covering is of wheat dough which is allowed to rise after adding yeast and the stuffing is of roasted banjeera/banjeeri powder. 

Siddus ready for being steamed

I couldn’t find the English word for banjira, but here are some pictures of the plant and the seeds. 

You may like my post on 'Life in a Himachali farm'.

Banjeera/Banjeeri plant

Banjeera seeds

It tasted a bit like flaxseeds. I had both the savory siddu as well as the sweet siddu where banjira powder is mixed with jaggery to make the stuffing. I liked the sweet version better.

Pakore and chai on a rainy day with the view of the mountains

One of the days I was there, a festival dedicated to the Nature Gods was celebrated, as a token of thanksgiving for an abundant crop produce. A 'chira', a structure of wood and earth on which dry grass and flowers are offered, is worshipped in the belief that it will destroy pests that come after the Monsoon. This is followed by ‘Jagra’ where people in a cluster of villages gather to sing, dance and feast. A few special dishes are made during this period.

Sooji ka halwa

After worshipping the chira, halwa puri is distributed amongst family members. The halwa was made of made of sooji/semolina with a generous amount of ghee and it was absolutely delectable. As soon as I was served this, I gobbled up one portion and didn’t have the space in my stomach for another puri, so check the picture of the halwa.

One of the days lunch was rajma, chawal, dhindhe, karela fry and buttermilk.

Another dish was Pathroru or dhindhe, in which colocasia leaves are coated with gram flour, rolled, steamed and then fried. The same dish is also made in Maharashtra and Gujarat and is called aloowadi or patra. Sometimes instead of gram flour , the paste of soaked and ground black gram, called 'maash', is used and both were equally tasty.

Nashasta in the bowl, maash ke vade, dhindhe and tea

Nashashta, was another halwa made of wheat flour, sugar and ghee. It’s a long process where the wheat is soaked for several days in water till it becomes very soft. It is then crushed and strained to remove impurities. The semi-liquid is then cooked with sugar and ghee to make this lovely dish. I ate it with puris to balance the sweetness.

Babru, maash ke vade served with ghee, butter and pickle

An interesting variation of the stuffed puri was Babru, in which is stuffing is of maash. This was served with butter, ghee and pickle and one puri was enough to fill my stomach. ‘Maash’ is used in a variety of other dishes too. One such was the mash ke vade, in which the paste is made into small flat circles and deep fried. This too is served with butter and ghee.

Ghainda served with ghee

On the last day before I left from Kharapathar, I was served another kind of halwa called ‘ghainda’. It's usually made for auspicious occasions like a birth in the family, where every visitor who comes to see the new born baby is served this. It’s made of roasted wheat flour and ghee. It was also served in an interesting manner. A dollop of the halwa is served of a plate and then a depression is made in the centre and ghee is poured into the well and you eat it by scooping out the outer portion, dipping it in ghee and then proceed towards the centre. I don’t remember the last time I must have consumed so much butter and ghee over a period of 10 days.

Maas ki kadhi, rice, and aloo gobi sunbi

While kadhi chawal and rajma chawal is quite common, I found that the Pahari rajma is much bigger in size than what one gets in the cities. Also one variation of the kadhi was made with maash rather than besan. I don’t know if it was the location or the way it was prepared but wherever I ate rajma chawal in Himachal, it was out of the world. And last but not the least, my special gratitude to the lovely, adorable granny in Ruhil-dhar, who prepared these delectable dishes with so much love and made sure I ate well..:-)

Even the kheer was served with ghee!