I have been hooked to Assamese food since school days when a friend took me to her home in Guwahati during vacation. For a perpetually hungry hosteller, the boiled rice paired with yellow lentil seasoned with hot mustard oil spluttered with a bay leaf, which my friend's mother rustled up along with a fish curry called dhangon mas, a small river fish, was the best meal I could have ever had after many half-cooked Maggi-eating sessions. The food was served with aloo pitika, a side dish made of mashed potato, garnished with chopped green chillies and coriander. To this day, I love aloo pitika and since it’s so easy to prepare, I make it frequently to spice up my meal. For dessert, we had home-made coconut ladoos and til pithas(made from sesame).

Hoihnu Hauzel explores the similarities between Thailand and India's northeastern part

Hoihnu Hauzel on how bamons, people specially designated to cook, add taste to Manipuri cuisine

It was only after I left Manipur, my home state, in pursuit of higher education, that I began to look at the place with a sense of awe. And over the years, I have explored and discovered interesting facts about this place that was once a princely state.