#Title

Spice up your life with these bold recipes from the hills
Embark on a culinary adventure with these hilly delights. Unique ingredients straight from the heart of the hills give these dishes a burst of flavour. Each dish combines traditional ingredients with a touch of flair, making them perfect for those who love bold and distinctive tastes.
Hattol Biji Huro Aera (Chicken Curry with Jackfruit Seeds)
Ingredients
1kg hilly chicken pieces
1½ cup Jackfruit seeds, peeled
3 tsp ginger-garlic coarse paste
2-3 tsp hilly green chilli coarse paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ cup oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sabarang or lemon basil
Salt
Method
Heat a cooking pan with oil on medium flame, add chopped onion and fry until colour changes to golden. Add ginger, garlic, chilli paste, turmeric, cumin and salt. Sauté until everything gets well fried. If necessary, add a small amount of water.
Add chicken and jackfruit seeds, and stir until everything gets well incorporated. When oil comes out, add water accordingly to cook the meat and the seeds. Cover with a lid and let it cook until meat and seeds get well cooked. Adjust the amount of salt and gravy. Add sabarang leaves, stir and cover the lid, and let it simmer for a few minutes on low flame.
Bacchcchuri Del (Bamboo shoots Lentil)
Ingredients
5 pieces bamboo shoots, processed and boiled
1 cup lentil
½ cup chopped onions
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 pieces green chilli, slit open
A pinch of turmeric powder
¼ cup oil
Salt to taste
A dash of Fuji leaves (wild jhum coriander leaves)
Water, as required
Methods
Boil lentils on medium heat. Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil. Add chopped garlic and onion and sauté until it turns golden. Add turmeric and salt. Add pre-boiled diced bamboo shoots and fry for a few minutes.
Put the sautéed bamboo shoots into the lentil pan and cook until everything gets incorporated.
Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with a dash of Fuji pata (hilly wild coriander leaves).
Oulod Phool Hurbo (Turmeric flower Salad)
Ingredients
4-5 pieces turmeric flower
½ cup Thai pea eggplant or teet begun
¼ cup dried shrimp, roasted
2 onions, sliced
10-15 pieces green chillies
Methods
Collect only the petals from the flowers and blanch. Boil Thai pea eggplant with salted water.
Roast green chillies and dried shrimp and turn them into a paste using mortar and pestle. Add peas and petals. Add salt and serve with rice.
Sabarang Ejeguri Ton (lemon basil with dried shrimp)
Ingredients
1 cup dried shrimp
2 onions, sliced
½ cup sabarang or lemon basil
A pinch of turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Method
Heat a pan with oil. Add sliced onion and sauté. Add dried shrimp and shallow fry for a few minutes. Add turmeric and red chilli powder. Add salt and stir until the dried shrimp gets cooked. Use water if needed. Add basils and stir. Transfer immediately into the serving dish and serve with rice.
By Lena Talukder
Photo: Courtesy