Fermented batters, pickles, dairy drinks, greens and grain beers from India, Nepal and the Himalayan region.
Kinema is a sticky, umami fermented soybean food from eastern Nepal, first made by the Limboo people and now eaten across the Darjeeling Hills, Sikkim and southern Bhutan,…
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Wadi (wari, bori) are small balls or cones of soaked, ground black gram (urad dal) paste, fermented for about 10 hours, spiced, shaped and sun-dried for 2–3 days…
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Koozh is a Tamil fermented millet porridge made from finger millet (ragi) or pearl millet (kambu), soured, cooked, then thinned with buttermilk or water and drunk cool with…
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Judima is the GI-tagged rice wine of the Dimasa people of Assam, Northeast India. Cooked rice is fermented for 5–7 days with humao, a starter cake of rice…
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Gundruk is Nepal's fermented, sun-dried leafy vegetable. Wilt mustard, radish or cauliflower leaves for a day or two, shred them, pack them very tightly into a jar without…
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Chhurpi is a Himalayan cheese from Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, made from cow or yak milk – traditionally from the buttermilk left after churning butter, heated until…
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Handia (haria) is the rice beer of Adivasi communities in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh: cooked rice fermented for 2–4 days with ranu, dried herbal starter tablets…
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Soibum is fermented bamboo shoot from Manipur, Northeast India: thinly sliced tender shoots soured by lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus brevis, L. plantarum and Leuconostoc species, then…
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Jalebi are spirals of fermented wheat batter, deep-fried at about 175–180°C and soaked briefly in saffron-cardamom sugar syrup. The batter is left overnight (12–24 hours at 25–30°C) to…
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Idli are South Indian steamed cakes made from rice and urad dal, soaked, ground and fermented overnight at about 28–32°C, then steamed for about 10–12 minutes. The batter…
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Traditional (khatta) dhokla is made by soaking chana dal and rice, grinding them with a little yogurt, fermenting the batter overnight at 25–30°C until sour and bubbly, steaming…
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Chang (chhaang) is the home-brewed grain beer of Tibet and the Tibetan-speaking Himalaya: cooked barley – or rice or millet at lower altitudes – fermented for a few…
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Dosa batter is rice and urad dal – about 4:1 by volume, with a little fenugreek – soaked, ground and fermented overnight (8–12 hours at about 25–32°C) until…
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Kanji is North India's fermented black carrot drink: carrot sticks, ground mustard seed and salt in water, fermented for 3–5 days until sour and deep purple. In one…
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Achaar is South Asia's everyday pickle: lemons, raw mango, chilies or vegetables preserved with salt, spices and often oil. Salt and acid do the preserving – the oil…
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Lassi is a North Indian and Pakistani yogurt drink: whisk plain yogurt (dahi) with a little cold water until frothy, then season it with salt and roasted cumin,…
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Tongba is eastern Nepal's traditional millet drink: cooked finger millet is fermented with a dried marcha starter for about a week, packed into a tall vessel, topped with…
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