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Where the hills echo the wind and the winds caress the corn.
Where women spend a whole day gathering sticks to light the fire of
hearth. The food is simple and made delicious with large additions of
'Ghee'. Non-vegetarian food, with a generous dose of spices like cardamom,
cinnamon, cloves and red chillies, is very much the norm.
While the everyday meal is the usual dal-chawal-subzi-roti, the common
north Indian meal of rice, lentil broth, dish of vegetables and bread,
special dishes are cooked during festive occasions. Rice is the staple
food and with it is served the tangy pungent Maahni or Urad Daal with raw
dried mangoes, and the Madra or Lentils cooked in yoghurt. 'Madra' of
Chamba is unique as it includes about twenty spices and is made of Rajmah
and cooked in yoghurt and Desi Ghee in slow fire.
Himachalies love the sizzling Luchi-Poti or Lamb Intestines, which is a
favorite dish in the winter season. The Makki or fresh corn flour of
Himachal Pradesh is especially delicious, as it is ground slowly in 'Paani
Ki Gharaats' or water propelled-mill and eaten with milk for breakfast.
Makki or Lentils and spices with Chhachh or buttermilk are eaten by hardy
mountain folk.
Sidu is a kind of bread made from wheat flour. It is kneaded with yeast
and the dough is allowed to rise for 4-5 hours. With stuffing of fat it is
first browned over a slow fire and then steamed. Sidu is normally eaten
with 'ghee' or clarified butter, dal or lentil broth as well as with
mutton.
Festive Food
In many parts of the state, ankalos made of rice flour are a festive
dish. In the dry Lahaul-Spiti valley, the leaves of buckwheat are mixed
with wheat flour and made into cakes called 'aktori'. Patande is a sort of
pancake dish, which is a specialty in the Sirmaur area.
The dham, a traditional festive meal, is cooked only by 'botis', a
particular caste of Brahmins who are hereditary chefs. Preparations for
this elaborate mid-day meal begin the night before. It is served in c
ourses
on epattalsi or leaf plates. In the Chamba region, the typical menu for a
dham would start with rice, moong dal and a madrah of rajmah cooked in
yoghurt. This is followed by boor ki kari and a dark lentil or mash dal.
Topped by khatta or sweet and sour sauce, made of tamarind and gur or
jaggery, the dham ends with the mittha or dessert - sweet rice, liberally
mixed with raisins and dry fruit.
The cuisine of Himachal is as distinctive and assorted, hence all the
regional specialties ranging from South-Indian to Thai and Italian to
Chinese are offered. Thalis are very well known in Himachal Pradesh. Dosas
and utthapams play a major role in the South Indian menu. Spicy momos also
tantalize the taste buds of most. Pastas decorated with numerous kinds of
sauces and spices are very common all through Himachal Pradesh.
Tibetian & Japanese Eating Delicacies
There is tremendous influence of Tibetan and Japanese cuisine. 'Amdo'
cuisine descending from the northeastern region of Tibet is a scrumptious
composition served on a platter. Fish and chicken are the chief essentials
of non-vegetarian cuisine.