Recipe book of indigenous foods released

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 23, 2022

For those food lovers who know only enjoyed eating the various indigenous dishes of the Khasi Jaintia people and who would also like to try their hands how to cook them but do not the recipes. Well, it is good news for them as a recipe book featuring some of the indigenous foods will be available soon in the market.

The recipe book is a collection of food items prepared by cooks in the cooking competitions organized by Society of Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE), Jowai in the different villages of West Jañtia District. The cooking competitions were organized in Khonglah, Cham Cham and Mukhap village and items included in the recipe were only those which won prizes in the competition. 

According to SURE President Dr H.H.Mohrmen, the book was an outcome of a two years dedication of the staffs of the organization that had painstakingly documented and put the prize winning items in the competition in the form of a recipe. He informed staffs namely Daka Bareh, Somja Phawa, Waiphang Shadap and Corin Slong with the support of the interns who were placed with the NGO by institutions like Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) and Assam Don Bosco University were instrumental in completion of the book.

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Mohrmen said that credit also goes to kong Anita and bah Phrang Roy for their support in making the project a success.

On Wednesday the Society of Urban & Rural Empowerment (SURE), Jowai in collaboration with North East Slow Food Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), Shillong funded by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) organized a programme on “Community led Agroecology Learning Circle kick-off workshop and also the release of Indigenous Food Recipe Book” at Dulong Community Hall, Jowai.

Addressing the gathering after releasing the recipe book, Garod LSN Dykes Deputy Commissioner of West Jañtia HillsSpeaking during the function to release the bi-lingual recipe, the chief guest LSN Garod said the food is also a major part of our culture, so the recipe is not only a documentation of the indigenous foods but it also celebrates the rich culture of the people.

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He also said that in the time where we can get recipes of food from different cultures at the click of a mouse, it is indeed heartening that we now have recipe book of some food from our culture.

Patricia Mukhim Editor of the Shillong Times said she was concerned about the fact that according to the NITY AYOG report the state ranks very poor in the nutritional index. She was upset that a large percentage of the female population in the state in the age group of 19 to 45 suffers from anemia, it may be because of the way we eat or the kind of food we eat, Mukhim wondered. She encouraged the farmers to continue with their job because no human being can live without food neither can a person eat money.   

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 Pius Rani Executive Director North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), Shillong spoke about the nutritional values of local food and the benefits of consuming the right food group. He also addressed the ALC members and explained that ALC is a multi-faceted model for community engagement and innovation that helps to reveal knowledge holders, co-create and test new solutions, document and disseminate them. It is a bottom up approach and innovation that documents traditional knowledge, undertakes natural resource management, conserves agrobiodiversity, initiates technical information and builds self governance.

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Kong Kitboklang Suchiang of Iaraplang Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), Mulum who is also a custodian farmer promoted by SURE highlighted the work conducted by the group which include instituting Iaraplang Community Seed Bank. She says that the seeds that they preserve are all organic seeds that are planted by the members in their own kitchen garden. The group also started the Farm on Wheels where they sell the organic produce to Jowai and nearby villages. The group took part and won prizes in different exhibitions held at Jowai & Shillong.