Sneha Lata Sakia armed
with pots and pans is all set this Sunday onward with her pop up on Northeastern (NE) cuisine, to live her dream of getting more people acquainted with the food
from the region she belongs to. Being
someone who loves food since childhood, she has tasted all kinds of cuisine including rarest type of meat like wood worms and fried wasps which hardly any
mainstream Indians have heard of.
Romance with food turned into a serious affair when the
food lover decided to go a step ahead, into cooking what she loved to eat. She
loved experimenting, trying a different batter for conventional dishes, but her attempts were laughed at, at home. However it was at work when her lunch boxes were often stolen and snatched, she found her first encouragement. Motivated she
started reading cookery books and trying the recipes. She says “My cooking
improved over time and here I am today, yet I do not like to call myself as an
expert. All I can say is I love cooking and the and am still learning.”
Most of the of the North
Eastern dishes have zero oil. There also is less spice but lots of herbs in their diet. In a festival called "Bihu", 101 varieties of Green herbs are
consumed, so for a health conscious generation Northeastern food is
undoubtedly the right choice. It not only cuts calories but also provides internal cleansing like a spa therapy does externally because you consume natural herbs. If you don’t trust me just
try it once.
Sneha Lata Sakia with her friend
Karen Yepthomi from Nagaland who runs a
popular restaurant serving the cuisine of the land; Dzokou – The Tribal Kitchen,
have come together to solve the myths and mysteries around their cuisine and
give us healthier diet options. When asked about her motivation behind the popup Sneha Lata Sakia states “Ever since my childhood days, people used to
ask me whether we eat snakes and dog meat. As a child it used to irritate me as I never saw mom cooking snakes and dog meat at home. Still when I meet people,
few ask me about my daily diet. One of my friend once told me that she doesnt
like Northeastern food as it stinks and she can’t eat bamboo shoots. My popup
event is to break this barrier of mindset that our food is way more than bamboo
and eating snakes etc”
The Venue: Dzokou - The Tribal Kitchen - Hauz Khas
The USP of this Popup
however is the fact that there is no discrimination against vegetarians (like
me) as they will also be served a full meal lovingly cooked by the ladies who wish to delight the taste buds of their vegetarians friends as well. NE cuisine does
include many interesting vegetarian dishes like curries made with Banana
Flower, Colocassia leaves and stem, Banana stem , Yam , Rongpuri Potoato ( red
colour baby potatoes), Ashgourd , Bottle gourd and Pumpkins. I am really
looking forward to it.
Talking about future plans
Sneha says “My journey of showcasing my cuisine to the mainstream has just
began. I used to invite my friends who are keen to know about my cuisine, at my
home ( in small batches). This pop up among large group is encouraging me do
more such events in future. I will keep promoting unexplored Northeastern
cuisine till my last breath."
So food lovers in Delhi give your soul a shower of food cooked Northeastern style with herbs this Sunday at the Popup event at Dzokou, Hauz Khas Main Market. More details about the venue is here: https://www.zomato.com/ncr/dzukou-tribal-kitchen-hauz-khas-delhi
Further details about the popup can be found here:
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