A cup of Assam Tea

   Most movies end when they are supposed to, but there are a few that carry on beyond their conclusion, even while characters talk, walk, and sleep. I recently watched the Assamese movie called Kaneen, directed by Monjul Baruah. I carried the ache, the pain, and the tears within me after watching it. It was released in August 2019 in Guwahati. It is now available.  Here  worldwide for an audience like me.  Kaneen has already won several awards and has been screened in several national and international film festivals. It is an adaptation of the acclaimed and award-winning Assamese novel by Dr. Rita Choudhary and Rajib Ishwar. Directed by Monjul Baruah, Kaneen's carefully constructed screenplay shines through delicately . The story unfolds in urban Assam. A bureaucrat's wife, Mandira Baruah's, tightly knit life seems perfect from the outside. A happy life with two children and a busy yet affectionate police officer husband. The tsunami comes when she discovers...

There are days when my taste buds ask for something rustic, rugged, totally country style, something that brings that nostalgic flavor, more precisely, brings me to our home kitchen in Assam, my grandma's kitchen, my mama's kitchen. Yup, sesame chicken is in my mind. My Assamese taste buds are so amicable with till or sesame seeds; name a festival or staple cooking time, and it is a desirable ingredient. I love that in today's new age, healthy cooking promotes and incorporates seed-eating, especially sesame, for numerous health benefits, which I was fortunate enough to grow up eating. Once you taste this exotic dish with its rustic and nutty flavor, you will definitely try it again. Today I am sharing my recipe.. Have you tried Assamese Chicken Curry . Ingredients 2 lb chicken cut into medium-sized pieces with bone 5 tablespoons of till or sesame 3 tablespoons mustard oil or olive oil, you can use any other cooking oil too but I love to use thick oil as...

             This whole week I have been thinking about food. And I can't wait for the Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. Also, I have been wondering about the similarities of food between one culture and another. How the resembles favorite entry's to one another. Where in our thanksgiving dinner I relish mashed potatoes, my assamese taste bud adore aloo pitika, aloo means potatoes and pitika means mashed. How the main ingredients of the entry are the same but the difference is the spices or secondary ingredients. Today I wanted to share the Assamese aloo pitika recipe.       Humble and simple aloo pitika is a quintessential side in assamese cuisine. Like Fish curry , aloo pitika is also an essential entry. Most of the time, even though considered as a side, the place of aloo pitika is nothing less than the main course. In western countries, butter is popularly used for mash potatoes. But, like many other recipes i...

      My both sets of grandparents have never eaten chicken rather they enjoyed Fish curry  or fish. The chicken was almost an alien for my families past generations. In Assam, about 30/35 years back older people instead of chicken rather ate duck, mutton or fish . That says chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in Assamese cuisine. But eating chicken is a quintessential part of modern Assamese family. As a kid, I remember waiting for Sunday lunches for chicken curry. The aroma of cooking chicken-filled up our home and us picky eaters can't wait to have our lunch. While growing up we only got one day holiday in the week, Sunday. Usually, everyone is at home and my mom painstakingly cooks the best and exquisite dishes to the table. And along with other specialties, the chicken was the fulcrum attraction. And happiness was eating chicken curry on Sundays.       As I told earlier, chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in assam...

You know my love affair with mekhela chadar is never-ending. As I grow older, I find it even more comfortable to wear. Last weekend, the Greater Boston Assamese community celebrated Bihu  with prompt and enthusiasm. Like  last year,  we attended again this year, and I had another opportunity to wear my mekhela chadar.          I got this mekhela chadar at  the Assam Convention,  where one of the designers, Jahnavi Swargiyari, showcased her designs.  A simple yet elegant mulberry silk mekhela chadar in bright yellow color, just great to celebrate Bihu and Spring. The mekhela chadar features both silver and gold designs. The bright yellow reminded me of Assam, especially the dotted mustard fields of Majuli  and dreamy daffodils in New England. I chose muted antique finish gold jewelry for earrings and a stack of bangles, and added a few turquoise enamel bangles with it, a turquoise bindi, and a turquoise potli bag for a spl...

You can't imagine a soulful Assamese meal without a fish curry. The fish curry transports me to my Grandmother's kitchen. I tiptoed entered the kitchen and wearing mekhela chadar  the affectionate lady a few dots of turmeric here and there on her clothes, frying fish and making curry, and she caught me and trying to feed me bite by bite and from our garden night jasmine exuding fall fragrance what a soulful sight. It was more than 30 years those smell, place, gestures felt like yesterday.  Let me tell you my grandmother made the world best curry and then my mom.  Lost my grandmother at the age of five. I was so little that I couldn’t learn my grandmother's recipe but my mom taught me how to make a good fish curry. In my assamese household as a child, we used to eat fish way more often than chicken. As an expert cook my mom made fish with all kinds of veggies. Her fish curry is very delicately prepared. She always says, to make a good fish curry you have to be ...

       The Village Rockstars, when they first started, the name itself, I felt the impact and power of it, way before watching the movie. Several nights, I got goosebumps thinking about and wondering about Rima Das, who single-handedly wrote, directed, cinematographed, and produced the film with a single handheld camera. Truly a one-woman show. Indeed, I was looking for every opportunity to watch the movie for several months. On December 17th, Village Rockstars, the Assamese film, was screened at MOMA in NYC. The first Indian film to be screened in MoMA, I just couldn't resist.        Village Rockstars, solace, and the soothing of being so real and relatable with a great dose of emotional and visual sensitivity.  Set in the quaint village of Assam, a 10-year-old girl named Dhunu dreams of owning a guitar one day. Away from over-drama and the glamorous world, village rockstars portray little slices of life's hope, aspiration, dream, ...

My grandmother's thuria, age-old and heirloom jewelry, of course, not part-able         A piece of jewelry echoes a region's rich heritage, aesthetics and sensibilities and Assamese jewelry does not differ from that. A piece of jewelry not just enhances the wearer's beauty but identity as well.       A land of flamboyant rivers engulfed in exotic flora and fauna, birds, musical instruments Assamese jewelry is highly inspired by that. Sharing a few assamese pieces of jewelry from my personal collection.       An Assamese bride's dress up is incomplete without Assamese jewelry. Traditionally Assamese jewelry is purely handmade. The main frame is made out with 24-carat gold and lac is used as a filling material. Stones are studded on the top.  The creatively and meticulously studded stone craftsmanship resembles with pomegranate seeds. The color and texture of the stone are opulent and lurid jus...

      Every celebration in the world is associated with some kind of color. When somebody talks about Christmas, the red, green and gold always come to mind. Bihu  is a celebration related to colors like red and beige (in Assamese we call it muga color). This year we visited Boston for Bihu celebration. While deciding on an outfit, I chose a muga color mekhela chadar and a red bell sleeve top. I skip the blouse because I wanted to give a modern twist.       My love affair with mekhela chadar had started long back. But only thing stopping me from wearing it was that my plates were never perfect. When I was in my 20s, whenever I had to wear mekhela chadar , I always had an excuse for not getting proper plates.  In my 30s and now I am more comfortable, and I found my way to wear it, giving it a modern twist by either wearing modern accessories or chic blouse instead of the typical ones. Even now I am not getting perfect in wear...

 Assamese weave is one of the most breathable and delicate fabrics in the world. It is very wearable and light to carry in any season. The most falcrom factor of the assamese weave is the designs and motifs that add more aura and beauty to it. Today I want to share a few assamese motifs and styles. Naturally abundant Assam, Assamese motifs are also inspired by flowers, trees, birds, and animals. 1. Kinkhap - The most popular adorned motif in the assamese weave, very regal and resplendent. Traditionally Kinghap motifs weave in gold and silver thread but today you can get it in any thread. It is believed that this design arrived in Assam from the Ahom dynasty. The kinkhap designs consist of two lions facing each other with courage. As Ahom hailed from Thailand, this design got inspired by Thailand. Also, Kinkhap symbolizes the Ahom dynasty's brave, courage and royalty.      There are many who also believe that the word Kinkhap came from China. ...

            Northeast India has color, culture and charisma of abundant natural beauty. Especially my home state Assam is blessed with the most exotic flora and fauna. My recent visit to India this time, I visited Kaziranga biodiversity park. Entering the park after getting tickets, we were greeted by humble staff ready to help, wearing the most whimsical Assamese traditional attire.       The park was inaugurated on 2015 October. It is 17 miles from Kaziranga national park and 137 miles from the Capital city Guwahati. The orchard and biodiversity park is a humble attempt by Akhil Gogoi, the founder Secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmer organization based in Assam India, to preserve the biodiversity of Assam and North East India.       The park is a whimsical display of 600 orchids, greenhouse, seed bank, herb garden, cactus garden, a park for children, different vari...