Dzukou, Delhi… and why it’s really time to put some respect on North Eastern Food

Why do Karen Yappthomi and Dzukou not get the recognition they deserve?

Is it because it’s a small, unpretentious place? 

Is it because food from the North East is still not taken seriously in Delhi? Or most of India for that matter? 

Is it because Karen has never played the PR or marketing game?

Is it because the big food writers and custodians of taste lack the ability and exposure to understand and appreciate our cuisine? 

Is it because the North East doesn’t exist in people’s minds when they think of Indian regional food? 

Pork ribs 

This lack of respect and recognition is a travesty to me. I see it happen with Pots and Grillz in Goa (one of the top 5 restaurants in the state for me). And I see it happen constantly with Dzukou. 

Black Turtle bean salad

The meal I ate at Dzukou last week was miles better than the meals I ate at some of India’s most famous restaurants over the last few months, including some that are on Asia’s top 100. It is food that is so sophisticated in thought and technique that it is at the cutting edge of where global food is at.

Smoked pork with anishi 

We talk about traditional techniques like smoking and fermentation, we talk about indigenous vegetables, we talk about balance and progression of flavours. We talk about food that is rooted in terroir and community. And we give examples of fancy restaurants in the Basque Country and Copenhagen and Peru. But we refuse to recognise it in a Naga restaurant in the second floor of a shopping complex in Vasant Kunj. 

Seasonal boiled vegetables 

I ate a full meal at Dzukou. I started with a 

pork ribs with garlic and ginger to cut the fat and a fresh green chilli sauce to give it depth. I also had a black turtle bean salad with spring onions , mint leaves , coriander leaves & lemon that added freshness and lightness and zest to the starter. 

Rohu in mezenga leaves and seeds 

For mains I had a smoked pork with Anishi. Anishi is far more acceptable to mainstream palates than akhuni but it’s still quite funky and the curry is quite thick. So it was accompanied by a dish of seasonal boiled vegetables… bottle gourd, baby pumpkin , spinach and a slice of ginger. Leaving aside the unusual choices of vegetables, it was stunning how well this dish complemented the pork and how the vegetables were cooked so perfectly, retaining the bite and flavour integrity of each vegetable. 

And to add layers of heat, complexity and depth I also had a fresh raja chilli chutney with roasted tomatoes & garlic. 

And finally I had rohu fish cooked in Mezenga leaves and seeds , fresh lemon , red tomatoes and garlic, cooked in low flame for an hour or so. All of this was eaten with a Naga sticky rice  dish which had three different kinds of rice. A basic white rice but also a red rice and a brown rice. 

Sticky rice with three kinds of rice

Now go back and look at this whole meal and read through it. Look at its nutritional value. Look at its balance (nutrients, flavour, food types). Look at its complexity (ingredients, techniques, colours, science, textures). Look at its heritage and philosophical roots. And explain to me why this is seen as some sort of unimportant, marginal regional cuisine. 

This shit really needs to stop. The food of the Nagas and the Khasis and the Mizos isn’t “ethnic” food. This isn’t some ghetto cuisine to gatekeep and exoticise. We may be small communities. But in these tribal roots lie centuries of wisdom and a sophisticated understanding of food that is balanced, healthy, nutritious, flavourful and rooted in the land and community. 

It deserves to be treated with far greater mainstream respect and recognition than it is.

So here’s to you Karen Yappthomi. I don’t care if you don’t win the fancy awards. But you’re one of India’s great chefs and you make me proud as a fellow North Easterner.