Chicken Curry (n.v.)

Non vegetarian curry

We, Sikkimese people like to eat simple curries with not much masala in them. I especially, like food where I can see or smell all the ingredients after it’s been cooked. They should be really simple to cook and great to eat. When you are traveling to Sikkim and you reach one of those transit places like Melli or Singtam, stop by to eat, most likely you will go to a familiar place, find a table and call out ‘Chicken-curry-rice’ in one breath. It’s a favourite of most Sikkimese people – this juicy, gratifying Indian food!  

  Ingredients list:
Chicken – 1 kg-  medium pieces

For the marinade:
Turmeric 1 teaspoon
4-7 green chillies (depending on their hotness quotient) – sliced vertically into two
2-4 medium onions – sliced
2-3 omatoes – sliced/ diced
1 tablespoon cumin (jeera) powder
Lime or vinegar
CurdSalt to taste
Ginger garlic paste – optional
2-3 table spoon Mustard oil
Sprinkling of coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta) – optional

Method

• Marinate the chicken for one hour, in the same vessel you will cook it in, by adding and mixing all the ingredients listed under ‘for the marinade’ and cover the vessel. 
• Later cook it till the bones separate from the meat easily (check with a fork). 
• Garnish it by sprinkling coriander leaves before serving. It’s that simple!
  Chicken should preferably be fresh and skinless. Ask for ‘local’ or in south India ‘country chicken’. 

Aalu ko aachar (v.)

Vegetarian entree

Mostly a Nepali specialty (all achars are mostly Nepali/ Newari specialty!), this has 2 favourite ingredients – potatoes (aalu) and sesame seeds. It’s easy to make and the ingredients are available everywhere. However, this achar has to be consumed on the same day unlike pickles. 

Take it with  with your regular food or as a snack while drinking with friends. Complete your vegetarian meals with this entree or include it as part of your non-vegetarian meals to balance it out!

Ingredients list
6 to 7 medium size potatoes (alu)
And for the achar masala:

Sesame seeds (til)
4-5 Red dry chillies
Salt to taste
Lemon as per taste
Coriander leaves        
1tsp Mustard oil

Method: 

• Boil and cube the potatoes and keep aside.
• For the achar masala, dry roast the sesame seeds till you start getting a waft of sesame aroma.
• Then grind them along with roasted red dry chillies and salt.  Mixing this masala with the boiled potato cubes make your achar almost ready.
• Sprinkle some lime juice, coriander leaves and finish it off with mustard oil for the flavour!

Gorkhay Achar (v.)

Vegetarian entree

This one is either named so because it’s as simple as the Gurkha people or because it’s so easy to cook that even Gurkhas can make it! It’s of course an accompaniment and can either be categorized as pickle, snack or just a part of  vegetarian meals. Gorkhay Achar can be eaten with roasted beaten rice (bhuteko cheura), plain rice, chapattis, parathas and sel rotis.

Ingredients list:

Mustard oil preferably
1 teaspoon of black sesame seeds (kalo til) – optional
3-4 medium onions - sliced
Medium size ginger -  julienned
5-7 green chillies (depending on their hotness) -sliced vertically into two
2-3 tomatoes - sliced/ diced
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar 
Sprinkling of coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta) – optional
Dash of lime or soya sauce

Method:

• Heat the mustard oil till bubbles come and go. 
• Pop black sesame seeds (this is optional).
• Add the sliced onions and cook till they sweat a bit.
• Add julienned ginger and soon after add the chilies and tomatoes. Cook for sometime and add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar to give that thickness and that gratifying taste. Cook till it’s the consistency you like.
• Sprinkle coriander leaves (optional). 
• Just before you serve, add a dash of lime or soya sauce for that extra zing!

labour. flavour. savour.

Food is a conversation starter, an excuse to get together, ultimate culture magnet, flavour of life and.. well you get the picture.

Being away from home for 14 years didn't do it for me. What really made me look up for Sikkimese cuisine was my son when he was still in my womb. I watched a video on TED where this lady mentions that it's important to eat food from your culture when you are pregnant as the baby familiarises itself with it's culture right from it's foetal stage.

Seriously, try as I might I couldn't get a website which gave me Sikkimese recipes. And although I can cook its not the same as having all ingredients ready, made to measure, before cooking especially when you live away from home in a different city. That's when I thought of this blog - if nothing this will record.

Please let me clarify that this blog will not have only native Sikkimese cuisine but the food that we actually eat there which includes Indian food and Indian curries, Nepali, Bhutia, Tibetan, Bengali, Newari, Marwari food.

This will include baby food as well - traditional as well as others which I have tried.

N.B: will hopefully include snacks and achars too!!