First Feast in Meghalaya

Our first home-cooked meal in Meghalaya was at the home of my friend Angel Nongtdu, with whom we were staying in Shillong. When Angel found out we were travelling to Meghalaya she very excitedly invited us to stay with her in her family’s extra apartment. She and her mum were such warm and gracious hosts, I can’t thank them enough!

(L-R) Angel's mum, Angel's little niece, Avila, Angel's aunt, me, her cousin, Angel, and my dad, just about fitting into the selfie!

And while we insisted that her family should not go out of their way to treat us as guests and make special meals for us, the spirit of Indian hospitality always seemed to intervene. Her mum, who is a real powerhouse, made us a lovely welcome dinner of traditional food. Angel’s family, although settled in Shillong, hail from the Jaintia district.

We were served the staple of sticky white rice, which was mixed with some red rice grown on their farm back in their village, making the meal extra filling. The rice was accompanied by river fish in black sesame curry. I was intrigued by the idea of a black curry, but on being cooked, the black colour of the sesame actually turned a deep green!

Along with this, we were also served two very interesting dishes, which were my two favourites on the dinner table that evening. The first was a salad made of a variety of tender bitter ferns called moknoh. The moknoh was steamed and then piled high in a bowl, over which Angel's mum deftly chopped onions and ginger, while Angel’s aunt pounded fried peanuts and added them in, and finally, some salt was sprinkled on top.

Moknoh ferns, tender and velvetty after being steamed

Angel's mum, slicing onions for the salad

Even the way things are chopped and sliced in Meghalaya is different from anything I’ve seen before. They use a locally made folding knife, which is used for everything from husking and slicing tender betel nut (kwai), to slicing onions against one’s index finger instead of a chopping board, to peeling giant yam stems (wang) to use for salad or curry.

The local folding all-purpose knife

The moknoh salad tasted so fresh with the flavouring ingredients like the local ginger. The texture of the steamed leaves was velvety on the tongue, with a mild crunch. I polished off quite a serving of it and proceeded for seconds.

The second dish that intrigued me that evening was a preparation of bees. Yes, I do mean the little buzzing pollinators! Bees, unlike a lot of the other ingredients used that evening, are not available at the local Iuw Duh (big market) in Shillong. So, these were brought back from Angel’s village. The bees are harvested along with the hive and come in all ages and stages – from eggs to larvae, to pupae, to full-grown bees, and even some queen bees! They are collected from the hive and cleaned, after which they are boiled or steamed, and then tossed with lots of onions, ginger, garlic, big chunks of raja mircha or ghost chillies, crushed black pepper and salt. The preparation was somewhere between a fresh pickle and a salad. It tasted fabulous from all the spices and onions, but it was the texture that was more interesting – soft larvae, crunchy-chewy pupae and bees, all together with crisp onions, made quite a delightful accompaniment to the meal!

The bee preparation, with the fermented green bean chutney in the background

We were also served very distinctly pungent chutney made of fermented flat green beans – definitely an acquired taste, and of course, some pork!

Our meal, all laid out! (Clockwise) fish in black sesame curry, moknoh salad, bees, fermented green bean chutney, my dad's plate with sticky rice,  fried pork, my plate of rice, some stir fried vegetables, and a cucumber salad.

After three days of travel by rail and then road to get from Mumbai to Shillion, a hot bath followed by this sumptuous home-cooked meal was just what we needed. Needless to say, we slept like logs that night!