Sikkamese Cuisine

 5 Food items of sikkim you need to try!

Combining the local influences and the ones from the countries around, the Sikkim food items are varied and made of profusions of layers of flavors.There are so many dishes people eat here every day and occasionally; rice being the staple food here. Few of the most popular food items of Sikkim are listed below.

1.Phagshapa

Phagshapa is a non-vegetarian dish which is made from pork. The other two main ingredients of the dish are chili and radish. It is best served in summers. To cook the dish, once the ginger garlic paste and onion are properly cooked in oil, add pork and red chili. Pressure cook and serve the dish hot with rice.

2.Kinema Curry

A unique dish, the star ingredient of this dish is fermented soya bean. It is one of the most popular dishes of the state for its taste as well as its high protein value. A tadka of turmeric powder, onion, red chilli and tomatoes is added to the gravy to further enhance the taste. The dish is served with rice. This is a great food for the vegetarians visiting the state. 

3.Chhurpi

Chhurpi or durkha is a traditional cheese consumed in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, sikkim ,Darjeeling, kalimpong,bhutan and Tibet. The two varieties of chhurpi are a soft variety (consumed usually as a side dish with rice)and a hard variety (chewed like a betel nut). It is known to be native to Tibetan cultural areas, spreading to Nepal and India.

4.Chhaang

In the bitter-cold winters of Sikkim, it is ideal to try out an alcoholic beverage to keep you warm. A Tibetan drink later adopted by the state, chaang is a must-try drink in the state of Sikkim. It is produced with fermented cereals and sipped through a bamboo vessel with a bamboo straw. The vessels with the millets are topped with warm water to extract the flavour. 

5.Kodo ko Roti

A Nepali dish, kodo ko roti has been adopted through Sikkim as a dish of its own. The dish is a simple bread meal, typically served with pickle. With kodo flour or finger millet flour, the batter is kneaded and spread across a banana leaf. The leaf is then covered and baked on a tawa. The dish is known to taste best when a tomato pickle is served as an accompaniment. 

THANK YOU FOR READING:)

Kristie Thakur