Manipuri cuisine refers to the cuisine of Manipur, a state of northeastern India. Daily meals are based on rice, with a few side dishes of vegetables, fish and meat.[1] A meal would usually have a vegetable stew called or, flavored with dried or fried fish; stir-fried vegetables called ; and a spicy item, which could be (a chili paste), eromba (boiled and mashed vegetables with chili and fermented fish), or singju (a piquant salad). All piquant side dishes are accompanied by a choice of fresh herbs, collectively called . The base and essence of Meitei cuisine is the fermented fish called . Several dishes of meat, mostly chicken and pork,[2] are cooked with unique recipes.[3] As a result of religious taboos, however, the Meitei Pangals do not cook the latter.
A side dish of steamed or boiled vegetables with a hint of sugar are also quite common as palate cleansers in most meals. The aromatics of most dishes start with frying bay leaf, chives, onion, garlic, and ginger in mustard oil. The rest of the vegetables follow after that. Oil is sparingly used in most of the main stews but the side dishes of (stir-fried spicy vegetables) and (fritters) make up for that. Fish is also a staple, and appears in every meal, either as or as roasted or fried pieces. While fish is an essential part of the diet, due to increasing prices, fish curry is prepared only occasionally, or during feasts. The Meiteis and the Pangals live in the valley of Manipur where freshwater fish from lakes and rivers and ponds had been plentiful until recent times.
The staple diet of Manipur consists of rice, fish, large varieties of leafy vegetables (of both aquatic and terrestrial).[4] Manipuris typically raise vegetables in a kitchen garden and rear fishes in small ponds (Pukhri)[5] around their house. Since the vegetables are either grown at home or obtained from local market, the cuisines are very seasonal, each season having its own special vegetables and preparations. The taste is very different from other Indian cuisines because of the use of various aromatic herbs and roots that are peculiar to the region.[6]
There are also ingredients in the cuisine that require an acquired taste, such as Hawaijaar (fermented soya bean, somewhat similar to the Japanese Natto), Soibum (fermented bamboo shoot), Ngaa-ri (fermented fish), and Hentak (fermented fish powder and herbs).
a chutney that have vegetables boiled or steamed with a lot of red chillies or umorok (king chilli) with ngari (fermented fish), smoked or roasted fish and mashed together. "U-morok" – literally ‘tree chilli’ u = tree; morok = chilli. It is garnished with herbs like maroi (maroi nakuppi, phakpai, mayang-ton, toning-khok, kaanghumaan, lomba, tilhou, chaantruk, coriander leaves and many more).
a piquant salad which is prepared with an assortment of raw vegetables, and can have varying combinations depending on preference or season. The vegetables are julienned, while the accompanying herbs and leaves are coarsely chopped or shredded. Some of the usual main ingredients are cabbage, lotus stem, (banana flower), (a kind of scented herb), (another herb), (tree beans/stink beans/Parkia speciosa). The accompanying herbs and leaves include sweet pea shoots, toningkhok (Houtuniya cordata) leaves and roots, heibi mana, coriander leaves etc. Most singju items are seasonal, making every season's singju a much loved treat. Singju can be seasoned with a chili paste flavored with roasted (fermented fish), or with roasted "thoiding" seeds (Perilla frutescens) powder and roasted chick pea powder/roasted besan, plus roasted red chili powder. Thoiding seeds are rich in healthy fats and vitamins, and when they are roasted they give a nutty flavor that is distinctive to a Singju. Other additional ingredients include boiled beans and peas, and also savory crispies, though these are optional.