The culture rich tribe

KEMUNG 👋

Kemung is a process of cooking in which an eatable is prepared by stuffing meat in a raw bamboo langpong (bamboo cylinder with one end closed) and heating it up over fire, all without the use of water. The water present in the bamboo itself increases the temperature in the langpong, The mouth of the langpong is tightly covered with raw leaves (preferably turmeric leaves), creating a vacumm in the langpong which acts as a pressure cooker. A person with high respect in society is always presented with an ok langpong (meat cylinder) in any social gathering.

KEPHI 👋

Kephi is the process of roasting. Pieces of meat are pierced with an ok akron (a special bamboo stick made for roasting meat) and smeared with a paste of raw turmeric, salt, ginger and garlic. This item is very popular among the Karbis as well as other tribes and it is an honour to be offered with a stick of roasted meat and a bottle of Hor alank (rice beer prepared locally).

KE-UP 👋

Ke-up is the process of boiling in water. From time immemorial the Karbis had never known cooking with oil. They always prepared their curries by the use of the ke-up technique. The item is cooked with very few varieties of spices that imparts its natural taste. The cooked food is taken either in the gravy form or in the dry form.

KANGMOI 👋

The Karbis, through ages, cooked their curries with the use of the phello (a liquid soda prepared with ashes of edible plants) which is the equivalent of the present soda powder. This phello liquid is prepared from dry ash of burned banana leaves and other plants by mixing with proportionate amount of water and filtered with phello bisir(a special conical shaped filter made from bamboo straws). The distilled liquid obtained thereof is the phello. The cooked food carries alkalic flavour which nullifies all acidic effects of intake of spicy food by an individual.

KALANGDANG 👋

Kalangdang is a curry item prepared without the use of cooking oil. It is identical to the ke-up process except that in ke-up process only spices are added whereas in kalangdang process every known ingredient of curry item can be included, except cooking oil. This imparts a special taste which is absent in curries prepared with oil thus preserving the natural contents of the ingredients used. This renders the item healthy and hygienic.

KANGTHU 👋

Kangthu is a dry dish prepared by wrapping a food item with leaves preferably wild banana/turmeric etc. and engulfed with hot ash and surrounded with red hot charcoal until the food is cooked. This item is always spicy with a higher presence of green chilies that causes the consumer to sweat profusely while relishing the dish. This is a delicacy which is prepared in every household round the year.

KARNU 👋

It is the process of cooking a food item by stirring dry on the pans, without using oil. Especially, herbs are cooked in this process. Salt and smashed garlic cloves are stirred dry before cooking the herbs. It gives a unique flavour to the dishes. Meat and fish (both raw and dry) are also cooked by this process. The cooked food retains its inherent composition with a slight tinge in the taste. Few Karbi traditional recipes

CHIKUNG-RIHO 👋

Cooked only during the religious prayer for appeasement of the WEATHER DEITY for timely showering of rains and suitable climatic conditions for cultivation all through the year. This prayer is usually held in the month of March every year before the beginning of the monsoon season known as BOTOR SARPO KARKLI. Chikung (meaning shrimp) and riho (meaning bitter gourd) is cooked in the process known as kangthu where the combination is also added with table salt and a paste of raw ginger. Then it is wrapped with a banana leaf and put inside the furnace of hot ashes for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Then it is carried to the place of the prayer site collected by the person known as Borva. It is then offered to the Weather Deity. After ward it is distributed to the common man present inside the prayer premises.

PHAK-OK KEMUNG 👋

Phak ok (pork) is cut into small pieces and mixed with a paste of raw ginger, garlic and green chilli. The mixed meat is then stuffed into a bamboo langpong (bamboo cylinder with one end closed) and heating it up over fire, all without the use of water. The water present in the bamboo itself increases the temperature in the langpong and also acts as the solvent in the cooking . The mouth of the langpong is tightly covered with raw leaves (preferably turmeric leaves), creating a vacumm in the langpong which acts as a pressure cooker. The langpong is then turned upside down to draw out the soup, leaving the cooked meat dry. Then the outer part of langpong is partially sliced out so that the burned ashes are not mixed up while taking out the cooked meat.

AVENTHE 👋

Aventhe is a word meaning ‘womb’. The womb, brain and testis of birds and animals are used to make a special dish which can only be taken by elders post menopause. The dish is served with traditional wine. This dish is prepared only during religious sacrifices in the presence of tribal heads and local public (men, women and children). This dish cannot be consumed by youths, married men and women in the prime of their age. There is a social taboo that intake of this item before menopause will render the person impotent, which may cause a bottleneck in the multiplication of the tribe.