Th e moment we stepped into the newly opened Naga Ki, we were struck by its minimalist beige interiors—wooden panels, neatly displayed wooden utensils, and dried corn cobs on sale. The space felt fresh, devoid of unnecessary wall art, jarring colours, or aesthetic corners that seemed forced. As the owners say, minimalism is trending, and we loved it! And the hint of smoky, fermented smell, very typical of restaurants in the Northeast, is unmissable.
Two friends, Tiasenla Ao and Orentsani Suzen Kikon, all the way from Nagaland, decided to open an authentic Naga restaurant some 1500 kilometres away. But why’s that? “Because we felt that there isn’t an authentic sitdown diner in the city, even being a gateway to the North East, unlike Delhi or Mumbai, where there isn’t a dearth of restaurants serving traditional Northeastern cuisines,” said Suzen.
Not just Naga cuisine, they also serve a few Pan-Asian dishes, making it more welcoming for food connoisseurs, but here comes the twist. The dimsums and chow have hints of Naga flavours too. How about a plate full of smoked pork momo? Dip it in a spicy, home-style aloo chutney, and we can guarantee that you have not tried anything like this before.
After Tia took us through the spices from Nagaland— axone (fermented soybean), anishi (fermented, smoked taro leaves, formed into cakes), dried and fresh bamboo shoots, michinga seeds (Naga sichuan peppers), dried taro leaves and stems, kholar beans (a local Naga variant of Rajma), black sesame seeds and paste, perilla seeds and paste, Raja mirchi (King chilli), dried fish, and a few more, making us even more interested to taste the food.
Once they started serving, it didn’t seem to just end. We started with a cup of sticky rice tea, which we felt was the hot beverage you would like to sip on sick days. The tea smelt like a pot of boiling payesh, sweet and fragrant. If you know how it smells, you would know what to expect. We paired it with soft pork steamed momos and the melt-in-your-mouth aloo cheese momos. They had a thin wrapper, and a dip into the aloo chutney and spicy red chutney just made it worth all the waiting and talking.
What we tried next was the Pork chow mein. Though we are huge fans of pork, we aren’t fans of lard, and when we were informed that the noodles aren’t cooked in oil but pork lard, we were a little hesitant to try this. But oh boy, how brilliant it tasted! Street-style tossed chow mein, boasting of veggies and pork slices, this is everything you would love to share with a group of friends when it is past lunchtime and you are super hungry!
But we weren’t expecting what happened next. While we wanted to try a thali, which comprised steamed sticky rice, boiled veggies, a dal or broth, aloo bhaji, raja mirchi chutney, papad, and a curry, Tia and Suzen made us try all the curry bases that are available on their menu.
A bite of the hot sticky rice, with the watery broth featuring tomatoes and Naga lehsun (garlic), aloo bhaji and a dash of the extremely spicy chutney, might feel sizzling but extremely comforting. I think we could have just this combination on a rainy day.
Our uniquely flavourful journey began soon with Amrusu, a local chicken and rice porridge, a favourite of the Ao tribe, made with minimal ingredients… pounded local rice, chicken, slit green chillies, crushed michinga seeds, salt and water, resulting in a robust, meaty and comforting bowl of goodness.
The smoked pork with axone might look like a typical light curry, but the complexity of flavours is intense. One bite in, and the smokiness of the pork and the pungency of the axone hits you immediately. Boasting deep, umami flavours, if you are not a fan of complex flavours, this isn’t your cup of tea.
The smoked pork with anishi also had very rich, complex flavours, but different from the one we tried right before. Apart from the intense smokiness, the anishi lends a slight tang to the curry.
If you love fish, try their fish curry with fresh bamboo shoots. A very light and simple recipe in which the bamboo shoots not only add a crunch but also an interesting tanginess. But for us, the star of the show was definitely the smoked pork with black sesame paste. Rich, umami and shining in all its glory, this dish, which is on the drier side, is what we would order after we finish eating the broth, aloo bhaji and amrusu.
All these savoury goodies definitely called for something sweet, and we settled for a black rice kheer. Not overly sweet, with a crunch in every bite, the textured black rice has a nuttiness, which we fell in love with!
Meal for two: INR 1,000+.
From 11 am to 11 pm.
At Naga Ki, Patuapara, Bhowanipore, Kolkata.
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