Assamese

History

The Tai-Ahom people, who came from the Shan region of present-day Myanmar and ruled Assam from 1228 to 1826, added South-East Asian traits such as sticky rice, fermented fish and bamboo shoot to local cooking. Khar, an alkaline liquid filtered from the ash of burnt banana peel, is a distinctively Assamese ingredient. Wild tea was identified in Assam in the 1820s, and the first commercial company, the Assam Company, was founded in 1839; Assam is now one of the world's main tea regions.

Well documented

Geography and influences

The wide, flood-prone Brahmaputra valley and the Barak valley, surrounded by hills; wetlands (beels), tea estates and paddy fields.

• Tai-Ahom kingdom and South-East Asian food traits
• Vaishnava satra (monastery) vegetarian food
• Neighbouring hill tribes (Bodo, Mising, Karbi)
• Bengal

Regional variations

Upper Assam

Stronger Ahom and tribal influence: pork, fermented foods, sticky rice.

Lower Assam

Closer to Bengal; more spices and Vaishnava vegetarian dishes.

Barak Valley

Bengali-speaking; Sylheti-style cooking.

Bodo, Mising and Karbi

Rice beer, smoked and fermented meats and fish, jute and other wild greens.

Festive and seasonal food

• Magh / Bhogali Bihu (mid-January harvest): uruka night community feast, til pitha, narikol laru, jolpan, duck and fish
• Bohag / Rongali Bihu (April new year): pitha, laru and jolpan of chira, doi and gur
• Kati Bihu (October): a quiet, austere festival with lamps in the fields

Signature dishes

• Masor tenga
• Duck curry with ash gourd

Not on the site yet: Khar (e.g. with raw papaya), Aloo pitika, Pork with bamboo shoot, Til pitha, Ghila pitha, Jolpan, Ou tenga (elephant-apple sour curry), Paro mangxo (pigeon curry), Xaak bhaji