Bas Tenga - a mouth-watering Naga delicacy

Photographs and text by Caisii Mao

Bamboo is used for a variety of purposes including food by the tribal as well as non-tribal communities of north-eastern India and dishes treated with bamboo shoot are equally popular among the Nagas. In Nagaland, bamboo shoots are both cooked and eaten as a fresh food item or fermented for a variety of culinary uses. Fermented bamboo shoot is commonly known as Bas Tenga (local dialect). Cooking pork and fish with a generous portion of fermented bamboo shoot is very popular in Naga cuisine. Demands for the bamboo shoot are high in the state and edible bamboo shoots are harvested from July till ends of September. The photographs show traders selling fresh bamboo shoots and fermented bamboo shoots along National Highway 29 between Dimapur and Ghaspani selling on September 9.