Kangsoi

Kangsoi is the Manipuri answer to stew. As humble as it is, it is a healthy and good food for the body and soul (almost like chicken soup!).

It is a very simple dish to make and when pressed for time, we always resort to cooking this. The main ingredient apart from the vegetables is ngari (fermented fish) and nga ayaiba (smoked fish). You can have hawaitharak (pea) kangsoi, kanglayen (split gill mushroom) kangsoi, hawaitharak and hawai uri (lablab or hyacinth bean) kangsoi, hawaitharak and hawaimubi (fava bean) kangsoi – the combination is endless!

Since we do not get all the ‘traditional’ mayal (ingredients) for kangsoi here, we have to make do with the vegetables we get like tomato, zucchini, beans  and carrot.

This recipe is inspired by my Emaibem who makes offbeat versions of Manipuri dishes with astounding results. So here goes the recipe for mixed vegetable kangsoi which is a bit different from the kangsoi we normally have at home. Trust me, you will definitely ask for more!

Ingredients:

1 medium potato – cut into roundels

1 medium size tomato -de-seeded and sliced into chunks

About 15-20 French beans – de-stringed and snapped

1 small onion – sliced

1 small zucchini – peeled and sliced

1 carrot – peeled and sliced

1 cup peas (if available, use whole peas i.e. with the shells on)

2 medium sized ngari – steamed or roasted

3-4 dried red chillies – soaked in hot water till soft

1 cm ginger – sliced

Salt to taste

Nga ayaiba (smoked fish) – optional

The method:

Mash the ngari with the red chillies and keep aside. (This is my husband’s technique. He cooks kangsoi better than me. i go for the easy way out – i.e. put in the ngari and red chillies in the kangsoi and let the boiling water take care of the job. Just this once, i did it his way!).

In a saucepan, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the sliced onion and ginger and cover and cook till onion is softened. Add the vegetables. Season with salt. Add the smoked fish and the mashed ngari. Cover and simmer till the vegetables are cooked. Easy peasy.

Enjoy with steamed rice and omelette (my favourite combination) or with yen angouba (fried chicken).

Soibum thongba

Hate me if you will but i have never taken a liking to soibum (fermented bamboo shoot). i have never been too fond of the smell or the taste. But since my husband loves everything Manipuri, despite my lukewarm relationship with it, soibum makes an appearance on the dinner table in the guise of soibum eromba every now and then.

Recently, my husband asked me if i could prepare soibum thongba. As i was in a benevolent mood, i said why not. Since i have never cooked soibum thongba before, i called up my sister, who is another soibum lover, to ask for the recipe. She said dismissively ‘cook it like you cook any other enshang (dish)’. Not very helpful. When grilled, she told me the steps.

We don’t get ‘authentic’ soibum over here. We do get young bamboo shoot tips (what we call soidon in Manipuri) drowned in brine at the local Asian store. It smells like soibum but is less tart. So unlike soibum which has to be soaked in salt water to remove some of the tartness, it is ready to cook once sliced into thin strips.

This dish turned out surprisingly good – so good that i momentarily forgot that i don’t like soibum and ate it with gusto. This dish has helped thaw the coldness between soibum and i. When i related the success of the dish to my sister, she told me i should eat the one cooked by Ema and Chema – which i missed out on when growing up because i was (and still am) so fussy.

Here is the recipe.

Soibum thongba

Things you need

Soibum

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

Salt

Turmeric (1 teaspoon should do, i guess. But feel free to add more or less)

Chilli powder (as per your taste)

Oil

3-4 steak/piece of fried fish (any variety will do but catfish or ngakra goes best with soibum. i used katla)

The method:

If you are using the ‘real’ soibum, you would need to soak it in salt water and wash it properly to remove the tartness. If you are using the canned variety which is milder, just wash it in running water and you are good to go.

Heat some oil in a wok. When hot, put in the sliced onion (i don’t like ginger and garlic except in fish or meat dishes but you can add them if you like). Fry till translucent. Add the turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powder and fry for some time. Add the potato and the bamboo shoots. Fry till the shoots get limp. Add the desired quantity of water and season with salt. Add the fried fish. Cover and simmer till everything is cooked.

Serve with steamed rice.