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Some of the varieties of indigenous drinks of Nagaland are:
According to them intestine and skin are tastiest part of meat. One important and good part of their diet is that they do not use spice and oil while preparing different dishes of meat or fish. Mostly they take boiled meat or vegetables with salt, chilly, local onion, local ginger and local leaf (wild tulsi). The style of cooking differs from place to place according to seasonal availability. They eat lots of herbs, and leaves of exotic plants. Use of animal fat is very common. Pork is favorite for some and dog meat for other. Milk and milk products are not included in their food and drinks. Some of the herbs and vegetables (local wild) are very common like wild tulsi, wild brinjal, and tomato etc. Some of the items preserved for lean and thin period by drying like yam, mustard leaf, wild cabbage and Naga etc. .
The food of Nagaland comprises of plain rice, cooked vegetables and meat. The local indigenous tribal communities of Nagaland are non- vegetarians who savor meats of all the animals. Dogs, spiders, pork, beef, crabs, cats, chicken and even elephants are eaten with great enthusiasm. The native population of Naga tribes loves to add spices and chilies in their daily diet. The food habits reflect the unique cultural traits and traditional legacy of the local indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland they do not waste any part of the animal. The intestines and skins of the animals are considered to be a delicious dish among the native population of the state.
The staple food of Nagas is rice. Most of them are non-vegetarian except if he/she is not allowed by doctor i.e. by compulsion not by choice. Meat is a part of their regular diet; it can be dried/smoked/fresh. Meat can be beef, pork or chicken. They eat mithun, dogs, cats, fish, spiders, birds, crabs, snails, insects, oysters, frogs, infact almost all living things except leech because of its spongy and elasticity. Even the elephant is eaten which is considered as a delicacy except Ao Naga. No part of animal is wasted, except shell, teeth bone, nail, horn and hair.
Bamboo shoot is also preserved for 3months to one year, by indigenous method like, outer covering of shoots shuold be cleaned by slicing and washing with water and the inner part of shoots sliced into smaller pieces and the kept in airtight container with water. They preserve meat by drying and smoking, by hanging on chullah in kitchen. When the fresh meat is not available they cook pieces of smoked/dried meat with vegetables and eat. Bamboo shoot has 2nd position among the food items after meat. They eat it with fish, dried or fresh meat. Preserved bamboo shoot is available in the local market. Besides that, all the aforementioned meat, deer meat, field mice, wild boar, creepy crawlies, hoppitty- hops and snakes also available.
Certain items are considered as taboos by the Nagas either because they are impure or because they are suspected to transmit their characters to the consumers. Most of the restrictions are related to women but is relaxed in respect of old people. Women are not allowed to eat monkeys lest they became extravagant. Pregnant women are not allowed to eat bear, a symbol of stupidity, because of the fear that the child borne will be stupid. The tiger and the leopard are not taken because of the old belief that man, tiger and leopard were all brothers at the beginning of creation. There are some special items given to women just after delivery. Cat’s meat, which is given the first preference, pork, chicken, crab along with rice water (the extracted water after cooking of rice).
Meat is taken without any spices. It is boiled in water and salt is added to it. For newly born baby, the rice water with honey (rice water-extracted water after cooking rice) is provided. One of the special items in their occasions and festivals is dry rice (special variety of rice fried by oil).These type of items vary from tribe to tribe. Meat( pork/beef) is special item for presenting as a gift in wedding and even funeral . Sharing of drink and meat are the most common items for festivals/occasions.
The common drinks of Nagas are tea and rice beer. Drinking of rice beer is very common. It is especially drunk by almost all the Naga tribes either as Zutho or Ruhi or Madhu or Yi. A guest is first welcomed by this wine/rice beer. They consume it during festival, special occasions, even in daily diet, in field or at home . Three drinks common are Zutha, Ruhi, and Dzutse. When the Zutho becomes strong it is called Okhe. It is nutritive in content and if hygienically prepared is a desirable drink. It is taken by all, including the youngsters. Even the drink is kept inside the coffin along with other food items (meat & others) and his belongings. Drinking of wine (local) from wild fruits like passion fruit, wild guava, wild apple, wild banana etc is also observed. The hardness of drink (rice beer/ wine) depends on the duration of preservation of and concentration. Beer is made of cooked rice (sticky) + boiled millet powder+ ½ cup of paddy powder (for 2kg of rice).
Anüshe is an ethnic food item of Ao Naga Community under Mokokchung district of Nagaland. It is used as apetisu and also for use during lean period when the availability of fresh leaf is less. For preparation, large quantity of colocasia leaves is required. The leaves are collected and kept for some period till they become yellowish. The ribs of the leaves are excluded for the preparation. After this the leaves are pound nicely till they are made into paste. The pound paste leaves are then wrapped with banana leaves in which small holes are made in the bottom part. This is then placed in one place, over which a heavy object like stone is kept for about 3 to 4 hours to drain out juice. Thereafter, it is transferred to the metallic plate, which is placed over the fire. Ash is spread over the metallic plate before placing the wrapped colocasia leaves over it. Heavy objects are again placed over it and time to time it is turned over. After a few hours, it is ground again with addition of dry chili, salt and spices. Some people do not add anything. This paste is again made into biscuit form, having a diameter of about 2 inches, for drying over the fire. The taste is better if dried quickly. Hence people go for overnight drying.
Grasshopper as food item is used by the people of Phek, Kohima and Dimapur districts of Nagaland. Grasshoppers are usually collected after the harvest of paddy, especially at night, with the help of torch light or lamp. This is a seasonal food item which can be collected only after the harvest of paddy. The wings and stomach of the insects are removed and it is washed with clean water. It is then fried in vegetable oil with the ingredients like ginger, garlic, chili, salt, oil, onion, fermented bamboo shoot etc. Water is usually not added and it is cooked dry. It can be collected from field and also can be purchased from market. The risk factor is that, some people are allergic to grasshopper. This practice has been followed by almost all the people in the village since time immemorial. The dried grasshoppers are crushed with chilli in the form of powder for longer preservation and value addition as appetizer. SnailØ Snail as a food item is consumed by almost all the Nagas but it is more popular among the tribes of Chakhesang, Angami, Rengma and Zeliang. This is considered as a special food item and by some poor families as a substitute of meat. Not all the species of snails but only a few species, which are found in terrace fields and fishery ponds, are edible. Usually two species are consumed; one has elongated shell and the other with round shell. The fleshy part is eaten. The snails are collected from one’s own terrace fields and ponds or can be purchased from market. The materials used in the preparation of food item are snail, salt, chili, tomato or fermented bamboo shoot, vegetable oil etc. The shell of the snail is washed properly with the help of a brush. The operculum is removed and the other pointed end is cut with a knife. After proper cleaning it is cooked according to desire. It can be cooked along with meat, especially pork or fried with vegetable oil. Another method of preparation is with fermented bamboo shoot. After cooking for about 45 minutes it can be served. Almost all the farmers, except a few who do not like it, consider snails as a special food item and have been practicing this since time immemorial.
This ethnic food preparation is popular among the Rengma Naga community under Kohima district of Nagaland. In this practice til seeds are cleaned and pound into paste to which crabs are added in a proportionate quantity and crushed again. After proper pounding it is taken out and kept in a container for fermentation. It takes about 2 days to ferment in summer and a little longer period in winter. After proper fermentation, it is wrapped in banana leaves and placed over fire for drying or it can be buried under hot ash in the furnace for some time till it gets cooked. Now it can be used for preparing chutni/pickle. Preparation of chutni/pickleØ Green chilies and tomatoes are placed over the burning charcoal for sometime and then taken out and ground in a mortar with a pestle. A particular species of local onion, called anasi or khurie in Rengma and Tenyidi dialect, respectively is also added to it and crushed. Small quantity of fermented til seed and crab is added and mixed properly. Salt is added to taste and is ready to serve.Til seed are readily available in the house or can be purchased from the market. This has been practiced by almost all the people of Rengma Naga community since time immemorial.
The fermented bamboo shoot, both wet and dry form, is an indigenously prepared food item, used mainly by Rengma, Lotha, Angami, Zeliang and some other tribes of Nagaland. The product is used as taste-maker in the food preparation and also some people believed that this neutralizes the effect of poison or toxin in any food item, when cooked along with it. Onset of monsoon initiates the new growth of bamboo shoot. Soft and succulent shoots (top) are harvested and sliced or crushed to pieces. It is then kept in airtight containers, preferably plastic/wooden/glass for fermentation. After 30–35 days, it becomes ready for consumption as fresh-fermented bamboo shoot. For dry bamboo shoot, fermented fresh shoots are dried on a clean woven bamboo mat/plastic sheet under the sun, which is kept away from domestic birds and animals to prevent it from contamination, as it is directly consumed without further washing/cleaning. The dried shoots can be stored/kept in any container for use. The product can be stored for very long period, if stored properly. No preservative is required for its preservation. This is practiced by every family in the village for time immemorial.
This is practiced in villages of Medziphema, Chumukedima etc. in Dimapur district of Nagaland .The practice is to preserve gooseberry for off-season. For preparation, gooseberry or amla is boiled in a container in water. Seed or nut is removed and the fleshy portion is broken into pieces. These pieces are taken into a container and sugar is sprinkled over it. If gooseberry is 1 kg, 400–500 g sugar will be required. Then the container is covered with lid. After 3–4 days, sugar gets dissolved and the juice is taken out and can be used as drink. This juice helps in controlling blood pressure and stomach problems. The pieces of gooseberry will be dried nicely in the sun (keeping these pieces over a paper). When it is dried, it can be packed in small polythene bags and can be stored for about 8–10 months. These gooseberry pieces are used as mouth refresher and appetizer also. It is eaten at any time.This product is believed to have therapeutic value in controlling blood pressure as well as stomach problems. The product is packed in small polythene bags and is sold in the market through which one can earn money. An average 25 farm families in the village use the practice which is in use for the last 50 years. The reason for non-use of this practice is due to non-availability of the material i.e. gooseberry. Some farm families prepare pickle with gooseberry as another product. In this method, chilli and salt are added and boiled. It is then dried well under the sun.
This is a food item for the people of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Young shoots of bamboo are collected and the outer coverings are sliced out. The inner soft part is taken which is then sliced into smaller pieces. The sliced shoots are kept in a basket and then covered with banana leaves. It is then kept for 2–3 months after which the liquid portion is drained off. The remaining sliced shoots are packed in an airtight container. This can be preserved for years together. Young tender shoots are also taken as such with other food items. This product is used for preparation of different curries, as preservative in pickle and supplement of tomato during off season. Decoction of the shoot, when taken with teaspoonful of honey once or twice a day cures respiratory disease.This practice is followed by all the people of Nagaland and Meghalaya for about 100 years. Ngüghü, a dried fermented mustard leafØ Ngüghü is dried fermented mustard leaf, which is used as taste maker in preparation of different varieties of local delicacies. This is a popular food item in Nsünyu, Khontsünyu, Tseminyu etc. in Kohima district of Nagaland, which is gaining popularity even among other tribes. This is usually prepared during summer season, where mustard leaves are harvested from mixed farming with paddy. For preparation, a pit of about 2–3 feet deep and 2–3 feet wide is dug. Then it is covered properly with either athama or amejan leaves both at the bottom and sides. Mustard leaves are washed and kept under the sun for some time to reduce the moisture content. Then the leaves (mustard) are placed in the pit nicely, so that minimum air space is maintained in pit. After this, the mustard leaves are covered at the top with either of the two leaves used. Lastly, it is covered with earth making it airtight and raised from the surroundings so that water lodging does not take place. After about 3 weeks, mustard leaves get fermented and are removed from the pit and dried in the sun. The materials used for the preparation is locally available. Fermentation period should be monitored carefully so that spoilage is reduced to the minimum. The practice has been in use since time immemorial by almost all the farmers in the villages. A slight modification has been made by some farmers by using large polythene bags instead of athama or amejan leaves for covering the mustard leaves. Ziegi-tsang dui as food itemØ Zeigi-tsang dui is a decocted semi-liquid of mustard leaf which is prepared in Poilwa village in Kohima district of Nagaland and is popular among the Zeliang tribe of Nagaland. Mustard leaf, cooking vessels, airtight container and fire woods are the materials required for preparation of this food item. Mustard leaves are washed properly and dried in the shade for about 3 days till the leaves turn yellow and grinded in paste form. It is then kept in an airtight container with water for fermentation for a week. The paste is then squeezed to get the juice. The juice is then boiled in a cooking vessel by continuously stirring and removing the froth into a semi-liquid form and it is then preserved in a bamboo cup. It could be preserved up to 2 years if properly covered. This practice is being followed by all the farmers in the village for more than 100 years. Materials used in the preparation are locally available.
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