Home chef Shabnam Borah recreated the magic of age-old Assamese Muslim cuisine for a day at Matchbox on the occasion of Magh Bihu. Sharabasti Mallik learns that the cuisine is the perfect union of Mughlai and traditional Assamese taste
The mention of Assam conjures up endless tea fields but the cuisine of the state is equally distinct owing to its diverse culture. like every state, it, too has its traditional dishes and spices that impart an authentic flavour to their food.
Assamese celebrate Magh bihu, the festival of harvest, accompanied with plenty of food. Recently Matchbox in Hauz Khas Village opened their doors and kitchens to Shabnam Borah, a home chef, where she recreated the magic of age-old Assamese Muslim cuisine and also gave it a modern twist.
The small pub looked, and smelled like home — the aroma or rich rezala, the intermingling of Indian spices all conjured up to increase our appetite. Curated by her son Sarwar Borah, the festival was called A Taste of Assam, and quite rightly so. While Borah prepared traditional Assamese Muslim cuisine, Rupamudra Kataki cooked rustic Assamese dishes.
The Assamese Muslim cuisine is the perfect union of Mughlai and traditional Assamese tastes and we got a taste of it from the mutton rezala that we tried. It was tangy sweet in taste and had vegetables. “We use vegetables like carrots, green peas and other green vegetables. It is a colonial influence. It is not curd based like a regular rezala,” said Sarwar.
The Aasamese Muslims, who have been living in Assam since 13th century have food habits, which in many ways is similar yet different from the traditional culture. A taste that has traits of both Mughlai, and traditional Assamese cuisine, perfect example is the smoked meat khaar, similarly you will find potato in an Assamese korma.
It was real home cooked food. We tried the masor tenga (traditional tomato-based tangy fish curry) and it was delectable. The fish korma, was however, more delicious. “I have used rohu fish for this because it is easily available but it can be cooked with ant fish,” said chef Borah. We were very glad to find a dish made with the banana flower called kolful in Assamese. The dish was called kolful aru mosur dail bor (pakoras made of banana flower fried in a batter of masoor daal).
We had korma pulao and it was light and delicious, withrezala (vinegar-based meat curry with a dash of fiery red chili powder and ginger) and it the perfect combination. The dal that we had, was the same that our mother’s make at home, so needless to say it became an instant favourite.
Although most of the ingredients were sourced locally there were a few things that the chef had to get from Assam, like the special rice used for making kheer. “It is called koni chawal in Assam,” she said showing us how the rice. It looked like coarsely ground rice, but the kheer named koni saulor payekh, was a delight. “I have got the jalfai, also called the Assamese olive, from there and also the raja mirch because they are not available here,” said the chef who prepared achaar with jolfai and bhoot jolokar (raja mirch). They were quite spicy and tantalising.
Borah’s spread also had dishes like lai xaak aru kosu xoriyoh di khar (alkaline lentil with rai leaves) and aloo pitikar logot bengana pura (similar to that of our baingan bharta but cooked in a traditional Assamese way).
The spread was a one day affair (the buffet was spread only for lunch) but we look forward to seeing, and tasting, much of Assamese cuisine in the near future.