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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Visiting a Temple built by the Pandavas- Hateshwari Mata Temple.

Hateshwari Mata Temple

After my joyful stint at apple harvesting in Ruhil dhar, we boarded a bus back to Kharapathar, where I volunteered for apple grading. The bus was to ply till Hatkoti, from where we had to board another bus going to Kharapathar. That was a great opportunity to visit the famous Hateshwari temple in Hatkoti. My host and I walked for half an hour from the Hatkoti bus stand and reached the temple amidst a slight drizzle of rain.

Main entrance to the temple premises

This ancient temple, built on the banks of the Pabbar river, is dedicated to the Goddess Hateshwari, a form of Goddess Durga. While there are no written records about the construction of the temple, some believed that it was constructed by the Pandavas who spent a considerable amount of time at Hatkoti, during their exile. Some others believe that the temple was built by Adi Shankaracharya. Based on the style of architecture and sculpture, historians claim that the temple must have been built during the reign of the Guptas, between 6^th and 9^th century AD.  

Exquisite wooden carvings.

Note the intricacy. 

The entire structure, I observed were made either in wood or stone, or a combination of both. I was particularly in awe of the intricate carvings on the wood, especially on the ceiling, inside the temples. And they have been remarkably well preserved, considering that the temple is several thousand years old. Photography wasn’t permitted inside the sanctum sanctorum but I’ll try my best to describe the Deity.

The image of Hateshwari Mata: Photo taken from the FB page of the temple.

The form of Goddess Hateshwari is beautiful with eight arms and is believed to be made of an alloy of eight metals.  It is also said that there are inscriptions in the sanctum sanctorum in the Brahmi script which is yet to be deciphered, but I couldn't spot them as it wasn't very well lit inside. The local people believe that no one has been able to view the feet of the deity, as they believe it touches the river Pabbar, on whose banks the temple stands. Another story which supports this belief is when the Gurkhas, in the early 19^th century had established their stronghold in parts of Himachal Pradesh and wanted to move the deity to another place convenient for them. The Gurkhas dug for hours on end and days together, but couldn't move the idol by even an inch, since the feet were buried too deep to be dislodged.

The huge bronze pot tied to the statue of Lord Ganesh

Outside the doorway of the sanctum sanctorum, you cannot miss spotting a huge bronze vessel tied with a chain next to a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesh. Legend says that there used to be two vessels instead of one, at the doorway, but many years ago, a fiery rain storm caused the river Pabbar to overflow and carry away both the vessels. The pujaris (priests) of the temple tried their best to rescue the vessels in the thunder and rain storm but could succeed in finding only one, which is tied near the doorway.

The Shiva temple.

Closer view of the beautifully carved entrance. 

To the left of the sanctum sanctorum is the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, with exquisite carvings on stone and wood. There is a Linga inside, and somehow the ambience, serenity and the dark interiors transported me 1000 years ago, when it would have been just the same, even then.

The five stone structures or 'deols' representing each of the Pandavas. 

A closer view of the carvings.

Further to the left of the temple premises, there are 5 stone structures, locally called ‘Deols’, representing each of the Pandavas. I loved the carvings of figures and motifs on stone on these too. The two majestic bronze statues of lions guarding the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum made for a lovely capture.

The majestic bronze lion.

Feeling awed by the serenity and the rich history and mystery of the temple, we sat inside the premises for some time, before leaving,  enjoying the landscape dotted with the greens of the forest, whites of the clouds and colours of human habitation.

The view from the temple premises.

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