Northeast Indian grocery stores bring a taste of home to Chennai

When Kashing Peter from Nagaland opened Northeast Vegetable Store in 2018, he had two dreams. He wanted to help the northeastern community in Chennai feel closer to home and open a window for locals into the region’s flavours.

Tucked away in a multi-storeyed commercial building on busy Nelson Manickam Road, this convenience store may look unassuming, but inside the racks are stacked with produce that you will struggle to find in conventional grocery stores, including baby pumpkins, fresh mustard leaves, and dried fish. With barely enough room for two people to stand inside, customers often spill out onto the road.

Over the past few years a number of such stores has mushroomed in the city, catering not just to the population from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim but also to locals who like to experiment.

Besant Nagar, Choolaimedu and Velachery are popular pockets where these stores have found a place, largely because of the sizeable northeastern community living in these neighbourhoods. “The roads behind Velachery’s Phoenix Mall have around 20 northeastern convenience stores. When I walk through these streets, I feel like I am at home because you can meet people from the Nort-East every few metres. It is almost like a mini North-East,” says Wapangtoshi, president, North East India Welfare Association in Chennai.

For Wapangtoshi, a resident of the city for 20 years, these stores have, very quickly, become reminders of his youth. “These shops are quite reasonable, and sell organic produce,” he says, pointing out how vegetables from the market in the cities are quite different from what is available in the North-East.

Suiningle Nriame, Peter’s wife, who works at the Nelson Manickam Road store says that people often buy baby pumpkin, and pumpkin leaves, as well as chayote leaves. “While vegetables such as chayote are available in markets across Chennai, their leaves are not sold here, so we import them from parts of the North-East and sell them in our store,” she adds.

Citywon Mangkung’s Awon Northeast shop stocks up on vegetables from her home State, Manipur. “While some products like napakpi (a traditional Manipuri herb) are brought to the city on request, mustard leaves are among the most popular product in the store,” she says, explaining how these leaves are boiled and eaten with pork. Mustard leaves are also used for the popular dish kangsoi, which is made with onion, fermented fish, ginger and chilli.

Ingredients like bamboo shoot, Sichuan pepper, small bitter gourd, sticky rice, pork, and dried fish, are the most common things Maong Nungsang Jamir, owner of Naga Reju restaurant, looks for, while drawing up his grocery list for his home kitchen. The fresher, the better.

When he gets to cook at home, it is often a simple meal of steamed rice with smoked meat, mustard greens, and a roasted tomato, chilli and garlic chutney with dried fish.

“Back home in Dimapur, we go to the vegetable market, buy produce for the week like bamboo shoot, Sichuan pepper, smoked meat and green veggies, then go to a restaurant for a meal. We usually order pork that is cooked with bamboo shoot which is either dried, fermented or fresh. For years, we were not able to do that when we moved to Chennai, but now it is possible,” he says.

A Chennai dream

In the 1980s and 1990s, Chennai saw many people from the Northeast coming to pursue degrees and diplomas in Engineering, and technical training, including TV technician courses, says Gautam Deori, president of the Assam Association in Chennai.

“Improved communication and connectivity have made it easier for people to move to Chennai. Today, students from the region can also be found in large numbers at institutions such as SRM and VIT,” he says. Although Assam accounts for a significant share of the people migrating from the Northeast, Gautam says Chennai has representation from all Northeast states.

“When we migrate to a new place, food is something which must migrate with us,” says Wapangtoshi. According to him, cuisine is one of the most simple and powerful ways to connect, both between the eight states, as well as with Chennai. “We celebrated Bihu — a New Year festival — in IIT Madras. There, we saw people from different cultural backgrounds enjoying our food,” he adds.

Gautham says that direct flights from Guwahati have also helped with the transportation of produce. “Earlier, there was only one train a week and it took three days and three nights to reach Chennai. By 2018, the flights began, transport became easier and these stores started coming up,” says Maong.

He adds that his community prefers fish from rivers and ponds, such as rohu and catla, rather than coastal fish. Although these varieties are not always easy to find, their availability has improved over time.

An unlikely debate

When asked about fermented bamboo shoots, Gautam breaks into a laugh. Does everyone love this funky smelling yet delicious delicacy? “Using traditional methods of preparation, this is an acquired taste. It evolved from the region because of weather that would constantly change. It is tangy with a distinct smell and everyone prepares it differently. Each community has its own preference for the variety of bamboo used too. This is often a subject of debate as well because of the hardships people faced in the hilly regions and the changing seasons in Assam, which experiences floods and dry periods,” he says.

My afternoon at Northeast Vegetable Store serves as a perfect example for this. At the store, preparations resume to cook up a feast at Peter’s restaurant, Northeast Multi Kitchen, located next door.

A set of customers walk in to taste their first Naga thali. Suiningle sits down and explains the ingredients that go into the dishes and talks about how it is made.

For her, this is a sign. A sign that her culture and community are finding a place in people’s minds and perhaps, in their hearts. She adds, “All you need to be, is curious.”

(With inputs from Sangita Rajan)

• Add to cart
• Lai Xaak - A variant of mustard leaves popular in the Northeast. Sauté and have it with vegetables like potato
• Bhut Jolokia - Also known as ghost pepper or Naga pepper for its fiery flavour. 
• Sticky rice - Which is also enjoyed as a sweet dish by mixing it with sugar, jaggery or milk in Assamese cuisine. 
• Buldak – Instant noodles from South Korea widely available in Manipur.
• Dingwang – Light, crispy rice crackers or biscuits.