Manipuri cuisine is simple, organic and healthy. Dishes are typically spicy foods that use chili pepper rather than Garam masala .
Basic Diet
The staple diet of Manipur consists of rice, leafy vegetables, and fish. Manipuris typically raise vegetables in a kitchen garden and rear fish in small ponds around their house.
Sample Dishes
Eromba is a chutney of boiled vegetables or potatoes with a lot of red chiles, tomatoes (optional) and dried fish salted to taste. It is garnished with chopped onions and coriander leaves.
Singju is a salad prepared with finely chopped cabbage, onions, lotus stems, stinky beans, coriander leaves, and ginger. Boiled kidney beans are optional and the dish is seasoned with red chili flakes, salted to taste, with red roasted sesame powder and roasted chick peas powder.
Chamthong is a boiled preparation of any seasonal vegetables with coarsely chopped onions, ginger and 2-4 garlic cloves and salt, topped with dry fish, fried fish pieces (optional)and water. It's soupy in nature and is eaten with rice.
Morok metpa is a chutney prepared with green or dry red chilies. The chilis should be boiled with dry fish in a pan and then it should be mashed with salt to taste in it, fried fish pieces can also be added to it. chopped onions and coriander leaves should be added to it and mixed.