Chunga Chaul
May 1, 2011“Food is a symptom of our culture. The way that we grow and eat food tells us everything about who we are. Everything.”
–Mary Rohlfing, Morning Owl Farm
‘Chunga chaul’ means rice made in bamboo tubes. Rice is known as ‘chaul’ in local dialects and ‘chunga’ refers to bamboo tubes cut between nodes with one end closed while the other end is left open. Chunga acts as container for storing mostly food and water in villages of North East India. Although it may sound to be pretty primitive, careless and coarse but the rustic way of cooking rice in the bamboo chunga is healthy, aromatic and simply mind-blowing. The technique is easy and gives a deep flavor to the rice. The time for cooking depends on the size of chunga, the amount of water, rice and the size of fire.
This issue, Fried Eye guest, Hardeep Singh Matharu explicitly brings the exquisite ethnic way of making chunga chaul. The following photos shot by him will take you through the process of using bamboo as a rice cooker.
Step 1
Put rice in a washed 'aamcha' leaf . A Banana leaf can also be used.
Step 2
Fold the rice in the leaves according to the size to fit in the bamboo tube. ' Dholu' bamboo which has got a thin wall and grows in the Naga hills is the best to use.
Step 3
Insert the sleeve into the bamboo tube. The bamboo has got the sealed node on one side and is open on the other side.
Step 4
Pour water into the bamboo tube which has the rice packed in a 'aamcha' leaf
Step 5
Fill water a little below the brim of the bamboo tube.
Step 6
Keep the bamboo in a fire for about 20 minutes
Step 7
Rice boiling inside the bamboo
Step 8
Remove the hot cooked rice sleeve from the bamboo
Step 9
Cooked chunga chaul along with other Naga dishes
Keep Reading this space for more recipes on the Tribal fiesta.
Enjoy !!!
