Despite its unique cuisine and recipes, food in Sikkim, a small hill State in the North-East, is slowly losing ground. SHAlINI SAKSENA who recently travelled to the State tells you why
Bordered by Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, Sikkim used to have its unique food culture with specific cuisine and ageold recipes. But, over the years, all this has changed. So much so that one can say that true Sikkimese cuisine is dying and if one is looking for authentic dishes, it will be impossible to find a restaurant that serves it there.
The reason is that the Nepalese and Tibetan influence has taken over the small State with a population of just over 6 lakh. It all began with the Madhesis coming into the State looking for work and brought with them their culture. Slowly, from being mere workers they became owners and spread their influence in every sphere, including food.
Executive Chef, Sattam Sinha, The Royal Plaza, Gangtok, a unit of the Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, tells you that the food of the local people is very simple because the locals are simple people. “Sikkimese people do not have much fanfare when it comes to food. They are basically rice eaters and everything centres around it. So it will be a vegetable with rice. A common staple diet during the rainy season is a thin soup of fermented and dried rai saag cooked with onion, garlic and tomatoes. This is eaten with boiled rice. While this is a popular dish in the region, it is not something that one will find on any restaurant menu. All one will find is chicken momos and thukpa,” the chef tells you.
And here too, the locals say there has been a change. There was a time when one would only get mutton momos served with a clear herbed soup. As the Tibetan influence increased, in came beef and pork momos. The region had not seen chicken momos till almost a decade-and-a-half back. Now, wherever you go, every kiosk that dots the region will serve chicken momos with the red chilli paste made with dalle (local chilli) and garlic.
Again, the roasted tomato has more or less vanished from the sauce. Since the region is not known for growing any spice except the chilli, one will find people eating meats and other local vegetables cooked by just adding salt. Even the typical preparation of this hill region — chunga chicken (cooked in bamboo) — made with turmeric, salt and chillies doesn’t find a mention in many menus. If one wanted to savour this dish, one would probably have to request the chef where one is staying to prepare this dish for you.
What you will find in most menus in the restaurants is daal makhni, butter chicken, shahi paneer, garlic naan, pastas, pizzas, etc. One will even get dosa, idli and sambhar or, for that matter, Domino’s pizza or a Subway sandwich. “People are looking to eat what is familiar. How many people want to eat litti chokha in Bihar on an outingIJ The same is true in this region. For the restaurants to serve regional dishes, people should not only know their names but also have a taste for it. Take, for example, the local saag. It has a bitter after-taste. Not everyone appreciates it. So why will anybody even serve itIJ If one really wanted to eat a typical Sikkimese meal, like sel roti made from whole wheat batter and deep fried like a jalebi and eaten with dum aloo, one will have to be invited to a local home,” Sourav Sengupta, general manager at the The Royal Plaza says.
Ask a restaurant owner why he doesn’t serve local dishes and he says his menu has local dishes. “We have momos — chicken, pork and beef, we serve thukpa what more do you wantIJ,” he asks. Tell him that thukpa is a Tibetian noodle soup and not Sikkimese, he will tell you that it has local ingredients and before walking away he will ask you that if people only ask for momos and thukpa, why should he serve anything elseIJ