1. NAGA LIFE: REFLECTION OF
THEIR CUISINE
By:
Sri Aurobindo College
(University Of Delhi)
Team Details:
Mentor:
Dr. Sushma Bhardwaj (Assistant
Professor, Dept. Of Zoology)
Students:
1. Manish Barthwal
2. Ashima Aggarwal
3. Zoya HUssain
4. Asha Bisht
5. Hemant Kumar
6. Rohit
7. Pratibha Agnihotri
8. Anish Tiwari
9. Gaurav Rathi
10. Nihal Rai

2. Acknowledgement:
we owe a debt of gratitude to the Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, Dean of
academic activities and all the members of the selection committee, for the vision and
foresight which guided us to conceive this project.
We are duly thankful to our college principal for the amount of faith and belief he has
shown in our team.
It is our prime duty to express our sense of gratitude to our mentor Dr. Sushma Bhardwaj
for her constant guidance, vigilance and advice without which this project would not have
been a reality.
Her positive outlook and perspective always stimulated and motivated us to bring out the
best from this research. She has remained a source of inspiration and positivity during the
course of building this research piece.
We would also like to extend our vote of thanks to all the families of Nagaland and all the
people there, for their warm hospitality and humble welcome.
This acknowledgement would be incomplete without thanking all the officials of
University of Delhi and Government of Nagaland for all the help and assistance, which
boosted our confidence towards this research.
Towards the end a special vote of thanks to Alder tour and travels co. and our tour guides
for putting all the plans together, working relentlessly towards making our projects a
success and being so friendly and receptive to our views.
Thanks to all fellow teammates for making us feel like home, away from home.
Towards the end a big thank you to everyone who worked behind the ideation,
conceptualization, organization, preparation, implementation and direction of this
beautiful Journey.

3. Introduction:
"We are what we eat". Our behavious and lifestyle is directly related to our food habits.
An enquiry into the cuisine of a place is the best way to discover and understand the
lifestyle of the people of that place. This endeavor of ours undertakes the challenge of
exploring the cuisine of Nagaland and establishing a relationship between the food and
lifestyle of the Naga people.
Objectives:
1. To gain a better insight into the regional platter of Nagaland and learn about the
regional dishes and food items.
2. To establish a relationship between the eating habits and lifestyle of people by
studying the use herbs and other food items as household remedies for treatment of
various diseases and derive the importance and significance of food in their life.
3. To validate our presumptions with ground reality.
Methodology:
During our visit to the villages surrounding Kohima, the entire study was based on the
Principle of 3C’s:
1. Conversation: Focused conversation with the local people and experts for gaining a
better insight into their food and eating habits.
2. Comprehension: Assimilation and arrangement of data obtained to derive
meaningful conclusions.
3. Correlation: Employing the conclusions to suggest ways and measures to promote
the state’s endemic and vibrant heritage.
The tools used in this study were:
1. Observation
Critical examination of minor details pertaining to cuisine and behavior of the local tribes
was the primary tool. A lot of crucial information was obtained by observing the food,
food habits, architectural design of houses/kitchen and other related items.
2. Narrations of lived experiences:
Detailed information regarding food items and their preparation was obtained by listening
and understanding the lived experience of the people. Visit to many houses and talking to
the family members was an important source of our primary data. Some families very
generously shared the details of their cooking style and special preparations.
Information was also collected from experts and elderly people who provided us with
their experiences and insight helping us in understanding the traditional practices of the
distant past.
3. Documentation through videos and photographs:

4. A major component of our study has been the videography and photography. Recorded
interactions and interviews enabled us to closely analyses the collected data.
Our data collection was focused towards minimizing the assumptions and publishing
authentic and genuine results out of the data so obtained.
Observations:
The villages that our team visited during the tour were:
Ketseizou Village
Occupied by the Angami tribe, this village is the 2nd largest village in Asia and also
known as ‘Home of seven spirits’.
Kisama Village
This is the heritage village demonstrating the heritage of all the 16 Naga Tribes, a venue
for the famous Hornbill Festival.
Khezhakheno Village
This village is located near the Nagaland-Manipur border and is dominated by the
Chekesan tribe.
Khonoma Village
Located about 20 km from Kohima, this village inhabits people from Angami tribe, also
called the first green village of Nagaland.
Tuophema Village
This is a typical tourist village exhibiting some remarkable traditions of Angami tribe.
Zokhoma Village
This is famous for its conservation practices especially the wildlife conservation.
Organization of the Villages
Villages were located on hills and hillocks surrounding the Kohima city.
Each village had an entrance gate specific to their tribe representing their cultural belief.
Terrace farming and other farming activities were mainly being practiced for the
fulfillment of family needs and not for commercial purpose.
Villages had a Village Council headed by the chairman.
Student union and youth council was the second most powerful after village council and
all the decisions were taken by the village council in consultation with these councils.

5. Structure of
Houses
The houses had
symmetrical roof
tops which were
supported by
bamboo and wooden
pillars. Floor of the
house was typically
made of mud and
roofs were made of
wood and houses had graves outside the house.
Khezakheno houses were typically made of wood with pillars and railing made from
timber. Each house had a small garden has wooden logs stored along the open area.
Khonoma Village houses had a reflection of European architecture with solar panels
They were decorated with shields of animal skin, mainly of bear and elephant.
A Typical NAGA Kitchen
Kitchen is an integral part in a Naga house as it serves the purpose of living room as well
as the eating place of the family and also the place for cooking various delicious and
nutritious dishes.
The kitchens we observed in Naga houses were very well organized and divided into
various sections used for different purposes. The section used for dining comprised of
wooden furniture. The cooking area had a large chulha (‘MIPHO’) over which pork, beef
etc. were hung for smoke drying. Another section was for keeping various utensils and
storage baskets used in the kitchen.
Kitchens were generally big rather the largest room of the house. They ate meals in large
wooden plates locally known as ‘KUPHI’
Traditional chulha (MIPHO) were generally made up of bricks. Fire wood is primarily
used as fuel.
.
TEIKHRIE
Above Mipho lay ‘Teikhrie’ made up of bamboo sticks. This is used for keeping utensils
over it and also for suspending pork and beef slices for smoke drying.
According to Naga tradition a slice of pork and beef are also suspended on ‘Teikhrie’
during auspicious occasions such as marriages which symbolizes of good fortune.
.

6. Kitchen Accessories
The variety of utensils and
kitchenware that was observed in the
Naga kitchen was a blend of both
traditional and modern cookware. For
example, the baskets used by them
were mainly traditional whereas there
were households which have started
using aluminum pans and other metal
utensils.
Nagas use baskets for numerous
purposes such as for keeping
vegetables, storing meat, carrying
fishes, storing rice and maize grains, carrying seeds to and from fields, carrying firewood
etc. Each has a different make.
Relishing the Naga Platter
Vegetarian Diversity
Non vegetarian food is an indispensible part of cuisine but without vegetarian food naga
kitchen is incomplete.
1. Cereals:
Rice is the staple food. Boiled rice is commonly consumed but often taken in puffed
and fried form.
Wet rice cultivation is a common practice. During paddy seedling transplantation naga
people help each other. The threshed crop is pounded using mortar and pestles (pounder)
and then winnowed with melhe.
Varieties of wet rice:
i. Mekrehla – expensive variety of rice used on special occasions.
ii. Kemesu - used for daily cooking purpose.
iii. Kemenya – variety of sticky rice used for making zutho (rice beer) and it
becomes less in quantity after cooking.
iv. Riiluo – red in color and consumed regularly.
v. Nierhiiko – fried after threshing to make them puffed and used as snacks.
Naga Dal
This pulse is indigenous to Nagaland. Naga dal is like any other kidney bean ranging in
color and consumed boiled.
Corn/ Maize:
Corn is generally grown in the month of July to august. It is roasted or boiled for
consumption. Roasting is the most common way of consuming.

7. 2. Spices:
Nagaland is unique in the context
of their spices. Naga ginger and
naga chilli are important spices of
naga cuisine.
a. Ginger: It is
comparatively small in size
and has very strong aroma.
It is an important
ingredient of curry, meats
and Tathu (pickle). It is
also a home remedy for
people having high blood
pressure problem, cold and fever.
b. Red Naga Chiily: Hottest chilly of India with colors ranging from yellow to
bright red and an important ingredient of meat, curry and Tathu.
c. Garlic: It has comparatively small bulbs hung from the roof of house for drying.
d. Dzachie/Akhuni : Dzachie is the product of fermented soybean seeds. The
soybean seeds are fermented for days till it gives out an aroma and then grinded to be
used as a spice.
3. Vegetables:
Nagaland people have a rich variety of vegetables. They generally prefer boiled
vegetables.
a. Tomato – Nagaland has two types of tomatoes which are different in size and
color.
The small and cherry shaped local tomatoes are seasonal. This tomato is sour in
taste and used for making soups.
Wild tomatoes are more like oval shaped. This tomato can be used as a substitute
of local tomato.
b. Kochu (YAM) – Kochu is edible underground stem same as colocasia. It turns
white when cooked with water. It is considered to be more nutritious than potato.
c. Bottle gourd – Bottle gourd of Nagaland is very unique. Its shape is like an urn.
The tender gourd is used for cooking but when it ripens it is dried and becomes
hard and brown in color. The tip is cut down and cleaned up with a thin bamboo
stick and water after which it is used for storing fluids.

8. d. Chow Chow (Sechium edule) – squash is a climbing herb commonly found in
Nagaland. The fruit is eaten as vegetable. Tender shoots and leaves are also used
as vegetable. Squash is also fed to pigs.
e. Sesame/Millet – The seeds are used for extracting oil. Seeds are grinded and used
as flour for making chapattis. Some people fry seeds and consume it.
f. Zhonghcha – This is a kind of bean, bright green in color and long edible pods. It
is eaten cooked or as such.
g. Bamboo – Tender bamboo shoot is a delicacy in Naga cuisine when cooked with
pork. The bamboo juice is creamy in color and sold in local markets in plastic
bottles. Bamboo culms are used for making mugs.
h. Lei (Mustard) – The leaves are boiled with water without cutting sometimes with
salt or even without it. It is an important green of their plate.
i. Collards – Collards leaves are very common in Nagaland. It belongs to brassica
family and is a winter crop. It is boiled for eating.
j. Lovie – Lovie is a bush having bristles which on touching gives painful itching but
some people consume it by boiling.
Earlier people use to peel off the skin of the bush and extract fiber from it to make
shawls.
Some people believe that Lovie is useful for cancer treatment.
4. Fruits:
a. Rum (Rubus ellipticus) – Rum is a common berry of Nagaland which fruits during
May – August. It is bright orange in color and sweet in taste and is also used for dental
problems.
b. Wild Apple– Wild apple is the most common fruit during winters. It is green in color
and sour in taste. The wild apples are sold by the villagers as dry fruit.The fresh apples

9. are chopped down and boiled with sugar and then kept in bright sun for dehydration till
the color changes to sunset orange.
c. Phomelo – This is a sour fruit from lemon family. It is lemon yellow in color from
outside and has peach color from inside. Generally it is taken in salads and also for
cooking pork as it reduces the fat.
The leaves of phomelo are used for cleaning the floors and also for washing the clothes.
d. Gooseberry (AMLA) – This is a seasonal fruit small and green in color. It is sour in
taste and a rich source of vitamin C. The juice of this fruit is used for bladder ailment.
e. Anaras (PINEAPPLE) – Lower regions of Nagaland are good producer of pineapple.
One can easily see the fields of pineapple on the way to kohima. Pineapple of this state is
among the best in the world as they are very sweet and with less or no fiber.
f. Banana – Banana of Nagaland is small in size and seeded. The flower buds of banana
are used as vegetable. The leaves are used in a traditional manner to serve food, selling
vegetables and meats.
g. Burma Badam – Burma badam is a common dry fruit of Nagaland. This fruit is
imported from Burma and is sweet in taste.
5. Common herbs used in cooking
a. Teichiinha – This is a small plant and has oval leaves. The meat is stuffed with these
leaves to reduce swelling.
b. Nitso (Naga tulsi) – Nitso is used in dry form. It has a pleasant aroma. The seeds are
used in food for aroma and can be eaten raw.
Nitso is also good for high blood pressure people, fever, asthma and gastric problems.
c. Nehii – Nehii is a seasonal plant grown in the month of July- august. It is easily
available in local market. It is also used in dried form. The smell is pleasing similar to
lemon grass and added in food for good flavor.
6. Herbs with Medicinal Significance
The Floral diversity of Nagaland is gifted with several medicinal herbs which are being
used from ancient times to cure many diseases.
a. Ginseng – Ginseng is an expensive herb which was very commonly found in
Nagaland till late 90s. In the present day, it is being diminished at ant an alarming
rate and has become a rare herb. Ginseng is good for blood purification and people
having high blood pressure.
b. Pieris – This herb is very common
and is collected from jungles by the
villagers and is used for home
remedies. It is like ginger plant. The
herb is crushed, dried and juice is
extracted. It is good for purifying
blood, blood clotting ailments, burns
and wounds.
c. Celo – This herb is used for curing
cancer patient by the local doctors.

10. d. Gappa –Used for dissolving blood clots.
e. Chunha (JAPAN PATTA/ELEPHANT PLANT) – A very common herb used to
heal wounds.
f. Rus Tea – Yellow fruits of this plant are used to make tea and are good for cold.
g. Gagi –Used for lowering blood pressure.
h. Penie – Used against itching caused by nettle grass.
i. Alder Tree – The tree bark and leaves have medicinal properties. The leaves are
used in dysentery whereas bark juice is used for curing breathing problems.
j. Mezhagapfhii –Leaves of this creeper are cooked as vegetable and considered
good for high blood pressure.
k. Chiikrii - This plant has small lemon yellow like fruits used for problems related to
oral cavities.
l. Wild Leaves– It is grown in kitchen garden and used
in gastric problems.
7. Mouth Freshners:
a. Paan – Paan is generally used as mouth freshener and
taken after meals generally. It is imported from Assam.
b. Tamul – Tamul is substituent of paan in villages. Tamul
consist of fresh tamul leaf and fresh areca. It is imported in Nagaland from Assam and
Shilong.
Non vegetarian varieties:
1. Ghonghi: Small garden snails usually boiled and eaten. Rich in nutrients and
good for health.
2. Khuli: Worms pink in color generally taken during health disorders. Very high
nutritional value.
3. Spiders and Ants are also consumed.
4. Fishes: Nagaland platter includes the following varieties of fishes
i) Rohu
ii)Katla
iii)Pamphlet
iv)Eel
v)Prawns
5.Rajhans: A large bird, with meat harder than that of chicken scarcely consumed.
6.Pigeons and Ducks are also popular among regional people.
7.Chicken: Not very popular among regional people although it is offered to females
post pregnancy for quick recovery.

11. 8. Sparrows and Other small
birds are also consumed by
the local people.
9.Pork: It is the most widely
consumed meat in Nagaland.
Liver and brain are the
delicacies.
10. Beef is also consumed in
large quantities.
11. Dog meat: It is exclusive
to Nagaland and widely
preferred.
12. Frog: it has great healing properties, the skin is used for treating wounds whereas the
meat is cooked with ginger and the soup thus prepared is offered to diabetes patient.
PREPARING THE NAGA PLATTER
Rice being the staple food is common to all the tribes. Along with rice, pork, beef, dog,
chicken, fish, insects and worms, vegetables and famous chilli sauces are typical to a
naga platter. The preparation of food is simple and in most cases meat, fish or vegetables
are cooked with salt, chilly and ginger. The food is mostly boiled and not fried and is
cooked by the processes of smoking, drying and fermenting.
Flavoring with Spices
Various spices are used to give a unique flavour which is particular to naga food.
Fermented soybean called DZACHIE is used as a spice. Spices basically include chilli,
garlic, ginger and ferns. Fern leaves are cooked with naga dal. A number of herbs are
used in preparation of food, usually for providing aroma to the food; two of them are
NEHII and NITSO.
Meat Dishes
One of the most essential parts of naga food is smoke dried pork and beef. The meat is
hanged above the traditional chulha called Mipho for months to year till it gets
dehydrated then it is cleaned, boiled and cooked usually with chilly, garlic, ginger and
fermented soybean called “AXONE” is also used in its preparation to create a strong
aroma in it.
Soup of internal organs is also prepared using these spices only. Beef is prepared in the
same manner. Apart from pork and beef, fishes constitute an important part of naga food.
Fishes are first dried then boiled and then spices are added for taste. One of the fish called
HAMOK is used in preparing chutney called MASE. It is first dried and then boiled
along with tomato and potato, garlic and ginger added at last.

12. EEL is consumed after peeling off the skin
and deep frying it. Roasted RABBIT is
preferred over boiled, frogs were also being
sold in plastic bags and its meat has medicinal
value.
Vegetables
GAGER is a kind of leaf, sour in taste is
mixed with rice to prepare khichdi. Another local leafy vegetable called GATHA is used
in preparing chutney
Tathu
Tathu is prepared using garlic, ginger, tomatoes, onions, naga dhania and naga red chilli
mashed together.
Critical Analysis of the Data
 Nagaland stocks within itself rich varieties of greens as well as meat which have
been an imperative part of their lifestyle. It is very visible in their physique that
they have been eating nutritious food with hygienic cooking practices.
 The diet they take is balanced and the meals prepared are boiled and smoke dried
which keeps the nutritional value of food preserved as compared to fried or
canned food.
 We observed that people of Nagaland have longer life expectancy as the folks in
their late 90s were actively working and participating in daily chores.
 They have been using indigenous herbs and various parts of fauna which they
have learned from their fore fathers and these home remedies have proved to be
successful in treating various diseases and wounds.
Conclusion
Nagaland stands out with all its vanity intact amidst the valleys of far East.
This state is not only a delight to explore but also a place where one can discover secrets of a
healthy life.
The sheer austerity of the people of Nagaland, their genuinity, simplicity and close association
with nature exemplifies mutual coordination.
Their healthy living associated with their active lifestyle and healthy food presents a remarkable
model for all of us to follow.
To sum it up, all we can say is that its only after coming here, one realizes that
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

13. Recommendations:
1. Nagaland has a great variety of floral biodiversity a lot of which is exclusive, endemic
possessing great medicinal value but lies untapped. Steps could be taken to utilize this
medicinal heritage by encouraging research working collaboration with universities
across the nation.
2. “Nagajolakia” which is a local chilly variety produced in Nagaland must be promoted
and required steps must be taken to ensure that the local produce is sold domestically
before exporting to foreign countries. Also the farmers producing this chilly must be
duly benefited with the produce.
3. Nagaland encompasses within itself a great deal of picturesque landscape, rich
variety of flora and fauna and sights of historical and spiritual importance, required
measure and plans must be adopted to promote the tourism aspect of the beautiful state.