The tastes of Meghalaya's Khasi hills

For the true taste of meat without the accompaniment of needless masalas, head straight for the Khasi hills of Meghalaya. Pork cooked with onions, ginger, and chillies and fried in mustard oil or chicken wrapped in turmeric and made into a curry are a few specialities of the Khasi kitchen. The recipe is simple, the taste simpler. And that's what defines Khasi cuisine.

The main menu is rice with non-vegetarian dishes. Meghalaya and especially the Khasis are averse to masalas and things spicy. Most of what they eat are boiled stuff. There's the predominant presence of sesame, ginger, onions, chillies, soyabean, and mustard oil in all dishes.

Meat is dried and preserved for all seasons and the Khasis carve out what's required for each meal. This exclusive tradition of preserving food, especially meat for the lean seasons was an art the Khasis had mastered ages ago, much before modern refrigeration techniques were ever thought of. There's something indefinably tasty about dried meat that can never be had from what's fresh. The dry meat dishes are served along with a dry fish chutney called Tungtap.

Khasi culinary experts are master chefs in their own right. You don’t have to teach them how to put each part of pork to good use. Give them a whole one, and not a hoof is wasted. Jadoh Snam is a Khasi pork meat speciality. It's a dish of rice cooked in pork meat and its blood, surely not for the faint-hearted. The Khasis relish their Jadoh Snam as much as the rest of India does Biryani.

Another delicacy is the Doh-Khlieh. It's actually a salad made with minced pork, pork brain and lard, onions and chillies.

Doh Jem is cooked with pork liver and the innards. Jadoh Snam is a laboriously-made dish. It takes hours to get the recipe done. This exactly explains why the dish is not available in Shillong. Though bamboo shoots don’t figure in Khasi cuisine, there’s a definite and special leaning towards bamboo pickle.

Read: Here's how to make Jadoh