India is a land of different cultures, traditions, beautiful landscapes and most importantly mouth-watering cuisines. As you travel across the country you will find a wide range of food from chole bhature in the North to idli sambhar in the South.
If you want to have the best-slow-cooked meat or excellent fermented food items, you must try the Naga cuisine. The beautiful state of northeast India, Nagaland, is known for its simple yet spicy food. It is also the home to the spices like bhoot jolokia aka raja mircha, one of the hottest chili pepper in the world.
Here are the five delicious food items from Naga cuisine that you should not miss.
- Pork and Axone
Soybean is a common ingredient that the residents of Nagaland use in their food. Axone, also known as Akhuni, is typically a cake made of fermented soybean. Nagas cook pork with axone to enhance the taste of the meat. It is one of the most famous dishes in the state. - Fish in bamboo
Fish is widely consumed across the northeast. Cooking in bamboo is a traditional practice in Nagaland. Fish cooked in bamboo is a popular delicacy in the state. Fish along with garlic, chili, spices and other herbs is stuffed into a bamboo pipe and then sealed. The bamboo pipe is kept on charcoal for slow cooking. It gives the dish a nice smoky flavour and it’s a zero oil preparation. - Zutho
Your visit to Nagaland can’t be complete without drinking zutho. This is a drink prepared from fermented rice. It is a rice beer that is famous in all the northeastern states, especially in Nagaland. - Akini Chokibo
Akini Chakibo is considered to be an exotic dish in Nagaland. Akini in local language refers to perilla seeds that come from the mint family and chokibo refers to snails. The dish is prepared by roasting and grounding the perilla seeds and then cooking them with snails. - Hinkejvu
Hinkejvu is Naga comfort food. It is made by boiling several ingredients like shredded cabbage leaves, mustard leaves, colocasia and French beans with a pinch of salt and spices. Hinkejvu is popular as it is can be prepared very easily with common ingredients.
