Sikkimese are essentially rice-eaters. Alcoholic drinks are popular both amongst men and women. Various traditional fermented foods and beverages are very common. Some of the common traditional cuisine with their food recipes has been presented below.
Momo is very popular Tibetan delicacy in Sikkim. A kind of a meat dumpling, this delicious snack is a favourite among the people. It is usually eaten steamed or fried. Today they even make vegetable Momos. The Momos are consumed piping hot with soup and home made chilly sauce. Momo has already entered commercial production and is well placed in menus of all local hotels/restaurant.
Momo (Steamed Dumpling)
Serves 30 momos
Wheat flour 4 cups
Meat 750 g, minces
Onion 2 chopped
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation : Mix well wheat flour with 2 cups of water and knead into a stiff paste, roll out on a floured board till it is very thin. The rolled dough should be about 2 feet square. Cut in circle with the rim of tea cup. Place a circle of dough on your left hand, slightly stretch the edges and place about a teaspoon of filling in the centre. Then with your right thumb and forefinger pleat the dough together over the centre of the meat, forming a pin-wheel design. Your left thumb is used to tuck the minced meat down as you go, and the dumpling turns on your palm as you pleat around it. A special steamer locally called moktu is required. Filled up dumplings are placed on oiled racks, slightly separated in the moktu. Bottom of the moktu is filled with water and steam the dumplings for 20-25 min. Momo is ready to serve hot. Momo is eaten with meat/vegetable soup, and tomato achar.
Tomato 2 large, boiled and crushed
Green chilies 4
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation: Boil tomato, crush and grind with green chilies in stone mortar. Add salt and mix well to give a thick past of tomato achar.
Fry chopped onions with garlic and green chilies, then add minced meat, fry for 10 min. Add salt to taste. Then keep aside after cooking.
Boil 4 litres of water vigorously, and drop noodles, boil for 2 min, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles through a large sieve and run cold water over them to stop them from sticking. Squeeze the water from the noodles and transfer to a serving bowl. Pour hot soup into bowl with noodles. Put fried meat-onion mixture and finely chopped green onion leaves on top of it. Thukpa/Gya-thuk is ready to serve hot.
Gya Thuk or Thukpa is a noodle-based soup with vegetables or meat.
Gya-Thuk/ Thukpa (Noodle soup)
Serves 4 to 6
Egg noodles 300 g
Meat (beef/pork/mutton/chicken) 250 g, minced
Onion 2 finely chopped
Onion leaves 1 Tablespoon, chopped
Garlic 3 flakes, chopped
Green chili 4 sliced
For soup: About 3 litres of clear bone soup - beef/ pork/ mutton / chicken stock. Add 1 Teaspoon of salt.
Preparation: Fry chopped onions with garlic and green chilies, then add minced meat, fry for 10 min. Add salt to taste. Then keep aside after cooking.
Boil 4 litre of water vigorously, and drop noodles, boil for 2 min, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles through a large sieve and run cold water over them to stop them from sticking. Squeeze the water from the noodles and transfer to a serving bowl. Pour hot soup into bowl with noodles. Put fried meat-onion mixture and finely chopped green onion leaves on top of it. Thukpa/Gya-thuk is ready to serve hot.
Ningro is an alpine fiddle-head fern and its tendrils when sauteed with 'Churpi' (cottage cheese) makes an irresistible dish. The people of the Sikkim Himalayas eat many varieties of wild ferns commonly grown in these regions. Some of the common edible ferns are Diplazium polypodiodes locally called "sauney ningro", iplazium spp. "kali ningro", etc. Recipe of wild fern is unique in these regions which is mostly mixed with Chhurpi to taste. Ningro, an alpine fiddle-head fern and its tendrils when sauted with Churpi( form of cheese) makes an irresistible dish.
Normally it is not served in the restaurants but is prepared as a household dish.
Chhurpi-Ningro curry (Chhurpi with Wild Fern)
Serves 6
Chhurpi 250 g
Ningro (wild fern) 12 stems (cut into 1 inch piece)
Onion 1 chopped
Green chilies 3 sliced
Turmeric powder 1/4 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation: Heat oil and fry chopped onion till it becomes golden brown, add chilies and turmeric powder. Fry finely cut pieces of Ningro and add a little amount of water, cook for 10 min. Seasoned Chhurpi and simmer briefly for 10-15 min. Curry is ready to serve with cooked rice.
Chhurpi is a fermented dairy product prepared from cow milk. Chhurpi is a traditional cottage cheese which gives a texture of a white soft mass with mild sour taste. It is fermented by spp. of lactic acid bacteria. Average consumption of Chhurpi is 9.9.g/capita/day with annual production of 1469 ton in Sikkim.
Chhurpi soup (Traditional Cottage Cheese
Serves 6
Chhurpi 250 g
Onion 1 chopped
Tomato 1 sliced
Green chilies 3 sliced
Ginger 1 Tablespoon (grated)
Paanch phoran 1/2 Tablespoon
Turmeric powder 1/4 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation : Heat oil, fry Paanch phoran, add chopped onion till it becomes golden brown. Add finely sliced and grated ginger, tomatoes and seasoned with Chhurpi and add salt. Stir and fry till oil separates. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with cooked rice.
Gundruk and Sinki are traditional fermented vegetable products prepared during winter when fresh perishable vegetable is plenty. Gundruk is a fermented product of leafy vegetable such as rayo sag (Brasicca rapa spp. campestris variety cuneifolia), leaves of mustard, radish and cauliflower. Sinki is prepared from radish tap root only. The quality attributes to Gundruk and Sinki basically depends upon the typical flavour and sour-acidic taste which is developed during natural fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, mainly spp. of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. Gundruk and Sinki are sun dried after fermentation and stored for consumption. Due to high content of organic acid and low pH, these products can be preserved for a year or more. This is a good example of bio preservation of perishable vegetable. Gundruk and Sinki are good appetizers due to high content of lactic and acetic acid developed during fermentation.
Serves 6 to 8
Gundruk/Sinki 50 g
Onion 1 chopped
Tomato 1 chopped
Dry red chili 2 pods
Turmeric powder 1/2 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation : Soak Gundruk/Sinki in water for 10 min. Heat oil and fry chopped onions, tomatoes, chilies. Drain up soaked Gundruk/Sinki and fry, add turmeric powder and salt, and put 2 cups of water. Boil for 10 min, and serve hot with cooked rice.
Serves 6
Gundruk 50 g
Onion 1 chopped
Green chilies 3 chopped
Oil 1 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation : Mix all ingredients, and serve as achar (pickle) along with cooked rice.
Serves 6
Nettle leaves 20-25 leaves
Rice 50 g
Garlic 4 flakes, sliced
Turmeric powder 1/2 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Ghee 1 Tablespoon
Preparation : Boil nettle leaves with rice, turmeric powder and salt till it is fully cooked. Heat oil and sautéed garlic flakes, add to cooked thick nettle soup. Sishnu soup is ready to serve with cooked rice.
Kinema is a traditional fermented soybean food having characteristic stringy property with unique flavour, commonly consume as a main side-dish curry served as meat substitute along with cooked rice in meals. Kinema serves as an inexpensive high source of plant protein food in the local diet. The word Kinema might have originated from the Limbu (one of the major castes of the Nepalis) dialect Kinambaa, Ki meaning fermented, nambaa means flavour.
Kinema curry (Fermented Soyabean)
Serves 6
Kinema 250 g
Onion 1 chopped
Tomato 1 sliced
Green chilies 3 pieces
Turmeric powder 1/4 Tablespoon
Salt 1 Teaspoon
Preparation : Heat oil and add chopped onions and fry till it becomes tender, add tomatoes and turmeric powder and fry for 2 min and then Kinema is fried, add salt, sliced green chilies and fry for 3-5 min. A little water is poured to make a thick curry, and cook for 5-7 min. Kinema curry is ready for serve with cooked rice. Sun-dried kinema is sometimes mixed with leafy vegetable to make mixed curry as side-dish.
Tama is a non-fermented bamboo shoot product. Some varieties of bamboo shoots commonly grown in the Sikkim Himalayas are Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Dendrocalamus sikkimensis and Bambusa tulda locally known as ‘choya bans’, ‘bhalu bans’ and ‘karati bans’, respectively are edible when young. These bamboo shoots are collected, defoliated and boiled in water with turmeric powder for 10-15 min to remove bitter taste of bamboo. Tama is ready for consumption. Tama is commonly sold in the local markets during the months of June to September when young bamboo shoots sprout.
Tama curry (Non-Fermented Bamboo Shoot)
Serves 4
Tama 250 g
Methi (Asafetida) 1/2 Teaspoon
Turmeric powder 1/2 Tablespoon
Salt 1/2 Teaspoon
Dale khorsani (Fresh round chili) 1 sliced
Preparation : Heat oil and fry dry asafetida seeds. Put finely sliced Tama, turmeric powder, sliced round chili and salt. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Tama, curry is ready to serve with cooked rice.
This Nepali cuisine is prepared by grinding a mixture of rice and water into a thick paste. Milk and sugar is added to the paste, which is deep-fried. It is normally eaten with potato curry or non-vegetarian dish and widely prepared during festivals.
Chang is a local beer made by fermenting millet using Yeast. It is sipped from a Bamboo receptacle using Bamboo pipe. The receptacle, which has millet in it, is topped with warm water a couple of times until the millet loses its flavour. Chang can sometimes be strong and very intoxicating.
Tsozum Tours, Treks & Expeditions
Dorji Building, Balwakhani, Gangtok, Sikkim, India - 737101
Telefax: +91-3592-204794
E-mail: info@toursikkim.com, tsozumtours@yahoo.com, toursikkim@gmail.com
Contact Person: Mr. Tamding Ts. Bhutia, Cell : +91-9933008811/15
