The Slow Food Movement, Nagaland chapter was getting ready to embark on their first journey, and I had to catch their caravan! Some of the members were travelling for a documentation project, in collaboration with Naga Bounties. Three places were chosen for this project: the villages of Tukuliqa, Ghatashi, and Pughoboto town in Zunheboto district.
A quick look up on Wikipedia revealed that the slow food movement is “an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking.” Although my understanding remained rudimentary, I hoped this trip would help me get a clearer understanding of the concept.
Slow Food Movement is a global movement, which was started by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986. Closer to home, Joel Basumatary, after his return from London where he studied and briefly worked, decided to get back in touch with his roots and focus on traditional Naga cuisines when he saw the lack of documentation and exposure of Naga food. In September, 2018, along with other like-minded individuals, he started Slow Food Nagaland, becoming the first slow food community in India. The movement which initially started with 10 members now has 22 members, each very passionate about organic, indigenous food.
Collaborating on this project is Naga Bounties, an initiative started and led by Vikheho Swu, which has a similar goal as the slow food movement. It aims to promote Naga Food, which is known to involve a lot of vegetables and meat. The initiative’s focus is to engage in activities like organic farming, cattle and livestock rearing, document wild plants, animals and even insects used by Nagas in their cooking.
Beyond Axone and Pork
After an hour-long struggle with the muddy roads where the tyres of one of the cars had sunk in, we finally reached the banks of Doyang River near Tukuliqa, where the people of the village had prepared a meal that was nothing short of a feast.
On three tables, seven varieties of rice, dishes cooked using six species’ of wild leaves foraged from the area nearby, and nine types of freshwater fish caught from the river were laid out. In one of the bowls was a species of stink bug, most probably the Aspongopus Nepalensis (a delicacy, if cooked properly and during the right time/season).
One of the smallest villages under Pughoboto, the 38 families of Tukuliqa are mainly engaged in rice cultivation. The village is named after a rice variety called “Atuku”, which grows best in the village. The village chairman, Zuhoto Swu, informed, “We actually grow nine varieties of rice in the village but could only present seven this time, because two are not yet ready for harvest.”
Vikheho Swu explained his vision behind the documentation project, “Like any other Naga tribe, Sumis have a lot of abundance of food, but the focus has always been only axone (fermented soybean), that’s why we don’t have any axone with pork today. I also felt the need to document the wild plants and leaves properly so we can preserve and use them on a daily basis. I really want to document and promote Naga food.”
I have to admit, I had similar expectations when I learnt I was going to be travelling to the district of Zunheboto. It was an eye opener for me to learn that there is more to traditional Sumi cuisine than just axone and pork.
A sip of Ghatashi Rice tea and a Bowl of Job’s tears
After a hearty meal at the picturesque location, the team headed off to Ghatashi village. Meeting with the people of the village, Joel introduced the movement and explained their vision of not only promoting indigenous food, but also devising strategies to contribute to a sustainable livelihood for the growers and farmers.
After the initial introduction, the team visited the site where a model community village garden is going to be set up in the village. Fortunately, the visit came right before the area was to be burned and cleared for the proposed garden. Vito Sumi, member of Slow Food Nagaland, suggested “natural farming” instead of adopting the slash and burn method, which exposes the soil surface to erosion. Another member of the movement, Joy Choudhury, who has his own garden in Peren district, explained how to make compost for growing the plants using manure and leaves to aid the method of natural farming.
“We are hoping to revive some of the crops which are no longer popular among farmers here, like rice and Job’s tears. We will also be growing varieties of beans and corn amongst other things,” Vikheho Swu said, sharing the vision of the proposed model garden project.
An overwhelming number of food items was served again later for dinner that night. The spread included three varieties of rice along with dishes cooked using ingredients like pork, chicken, axone, banana flowers, Colocasia, Roselle, edible fern, pumpkin, black beans, perilla, and many others, totalling up to 26 was laid out which was, let’s just say, more than my plate could handle! Over dinner, the team discussed about the importance of tapping into the market potential of indigenous food items and products in Nagaland by educating people on the existence of markets and the importance of packaging.
After dinner, we were served rice tea made by the women of Ghatashi. Clear and reddish, it had a slightly thick texture with the aroma of rice. Nagaland’s very own rice tea from Ghatashi, to me, tasted better than the more popular ones from China or South Korea. While the rest of the world is going gaga over the health benefits of the popular Chinese and Korean rice tea, most people even in our own state unfortunately are not aware of the delicious and healthy rice tea originating in this village in Zunheboto.
Breakfast next morning brought more surprises for me. It included Sumi traditional bread, local eggs and tea. However, the highlight of the meal for me was the Job’s tears. It was a first for me, but I immediately fell in love with its taste and texture. It was not only filling, but I could even taste the ‘healthy’ in this cereal. Ghatashi is one of the few places in Nagaland where this crop is grown, but the plantation and cultivation of this grain is also fast diminishing.
In Ghatashi, this joint project not only hopes to revive the production of this grain but also market it as an organic substitute for processed food. The project aims to promote healthier, organically-grown choices as well as contribute to the economy.
Black Bean Farewell
Before returning, we made one last quick stop in the quaint little town of Pughoboto. While the word “jajjangmyeon” (Korean black bean noodles) may be the first reference we make to black beans, its abundance in this town proves that it is not only exclusive to Korea! This part of Nagaland is one the few places where this bean variety is grown.
It is also the food item that Slow Food Nagaland is trying to nominate for the Ark of Taste- an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods maintained by the global slow food movement. The movement hopes that by doing so, they will be able to encourage the preservation and promotion of this sparsely-found crop in the state.
Lunch in Pughoboto was another sumptuous spread. Five different varieties of rice and nine accompanying dishes were laid out which included chicken and pork cooked in different styles, black beans, Colocasia and chutneys made of several items like axone, pork innards, beans and Naga onion. It was truly a befitting meal to wrap up the purposefully “foodventurous” trip.
Based on the global movement’s philosophy of promoting quality food which is “good, clean and fair,” this collaborative project is one of the first steps slow food Nagaland is taking towards an envisioned world with food that is flavoursome and healthy, grown using eco-friendly techniques and provides economic sustainability to both consumers and producers.
In retrospect, it still boggles my mind that in three small places of Nagaland, I got to taste over 30 types of organic and indigenous food, most of which I had never even heard of before. This gets one thinking about how many varieties of indigenous Naga food are out there that we are still unaware of. The journey to discovery of these little-known dishes and food has only just begun but will undoubtedly open up the world to a whole new gastronomic adventure.
Lost in Wanderland 