Khonoma-First Green Village in India in Nagaland, Tribal Food + Spiciest Chutney Ever l Village Walk

Khonoma-First Green Village in India in Nagaland, Tribal Food + Spiciest Chutney Ever l Village Walk

Welcome to India’s first green village, Khonoa. [Music] Welcome to India’s first green village, Khonoma. The Angami Nagar tribal people live here. Today we are going to spend the whole day here. And we are going to show you the local delicacies. Come, let’s go. [Music] During the Indonaga conflict, I can say, or during the British rule, at that time, all our houses were burned. So we had to shift it to somewhere else. That’s why the majority of the people have shifted to the jungle. During 1967-68, they all were staying in the jungle. After returning, many of them left for the plain sector, that is in the Dimapur area. So we have very few people living here. Actually, it is one of the biggest villages in the western Angami area. But because of that conflict, many people migrated to the plain sectors. So most of the people who live in this village are from the Angami Nagar tribe. Yes. So what is the main occupation of people living here in this village? Agriculture. We do lots of agriculture and we sell lots of garlics also. You know the red garlics. Can I see them? This is the red garlic. And paddy. And paddy, yeah. And now also we are introducing fishery also in the paddy field. Paddy comes from the fishery culture. We do that. But gardening is the most right now. Actually, for commercial and all. What do you do with the corn after harvesting? Actually, these two we make for some chutney also, pickle also. But for the next year plantation, we keep it. For seeds? Yeah. And earlier, just for our forefathers, it shows that you are a rich man. Prosperity. Yeah, yeah. Because of these hanging meats, also the same thing. It shows that you are a person, a wealthy person. So your village is called Green Village. It is considered to be India’s first green village. Yeah. Why is it so? Because we have banned all the hunting. Everything. And logging. Earlier too, in the 80s, we did lots of logging and all. Almost all our forests were finished. But some elderly people, they come to know that we have to preserve and we have to conserve. That’s why we just stopped hunting and logging. That’s why the government of India, they just gave up that present. It’s like a present. You are making a curry of cardamom. Yes. Everything is locally grown. Yeah, yeah. Because of that, we hear that some of you are vegetarian. That’s why. Cauliflower, peas and tomatoes. They are adding cardamom. What is this called? We call it Khe in Angami language. We call it local brew. And how is it made? You have to cook the rice. After that, you just cool it and you have to ferment it with a yeast. Which we used to make locally also by ourselves or from other places also we bring that. During the winter, it takes a longer time. Say 4-5 days. But during the summer, it takes 2-3 days to be fermented. So we will add hot water to this? Yeah, yeah. If you want to drink earlier, you pour the hot water. If you don’t want to take now, you pour the cold water. That’s all. And the leftover rice, do we eat it? Yeah, yeah, you can. That is very much. Because in olden days, our forefathers, they just drink everything. The rice and all. You have seen the jobster. Jobster is very good but jobster is a headache sometimes. Hangover. Yeah. Hangover. Yeah. Once you can do it. Twice you can do it. And the first one will be stronger and the second one will be milder. Yeah, yeah. To make this chutney, the raja mircha is being smoked. And now we will crush it. And along with it, we will add three tomatoes. Tamarillo. The skin of this tomato is very hard. In fact, the skin is a little bitter. And along with the skin, the flesh of the three tomatoes is also a little bitter. After that, the sweetness comes in it. And many people say passion fruit plus tomato. Both have mixed flavors in this tomato. In tamarillo, in three tomatoes. And now we will put it in the fire and smoke it a little. Now we are crushing the naga mircha along with the red garlic. Now we are taking out the tomatoes from inside. Wow. Plate. Plate. Plate. Garlic leaves. Wow. Amazing. Asla chutney is ready. Our local brew is ready. Huh? Wow. Amazing. So this is our appetizer. Local brew. Khe. Cheers. Cheers. Hmm. It is sweet. Yes, it is sweet. Hmm. Yes. What is this chutney made of? Akhuni? This is made of Akhuni We call it Naga beans And? Then with chilli And ginger And plus it So, it goes well with this? Yes, that is very good With the Apong Or we call it Khe Dried chutney It’s very spicy Very hot Oh This is the thing about it It is so spicy that it forces you to drink more My mouth is burning Fire Yeah My whole mouth is burning Have some Just one small bean Is enough To burn your mouth It’s very hot I don’t know We Nagas We are living in a very cold place That’s why we eat lots of chillies Not everybody But the majority Go for the green chilli also It keeps your body warm Do you believe that? Yes I can drink many glasses How many glasses will make you high? Don’t drink the glass Drink this Wine only That’s a nice one But how many cups Will make me high? It depends on the quality So, if the quality Is high Because of some fermented one Say if it is Stained for 10-20 days Those are very high So, even one glass also Will make you high This is kind of Mild alcoholic beverage But when you ferment it For a longer period It becomes very potent Very strong Right now it is perfectly light And refreshing and nourishing Now I am fine So our food is ready It has rice Country chicken, dal Mixed vegetables And tree tomato chutney Come let’s taste it The local ginger here The local ginger Has a peculiar taste It is a bit strong The local ginger here And the chicken The red chilli added to it Is it red chilli? No Normal red chilli But still hot Still hot It is a complete meal It has protein, carbohydrates Green vegetables Everything It is a very healthy and balanced diet So what is your Daily food Daily food We have almost Just rice And curry May be sometimes with meat Sometimes with vegetables But mostly we have Veg We need to learn a lot from you The matar that you have made Is made with shilko And in many places They eat matar and not shilko But everything should be eaten Everything is edible And also the chicken No part of the chicken is wasted All the parts of the chicken are eaten With the skin And the flavours are also good The chicken that is made There is no oil in it Only red chilli, ginger, garlic and salt It is boiled So it is healthy and nutritious And tasty as well I haven’t had the chutney yet I am scared. It must be very spicy You gave me the Beans chutney It was so spicy that I am scared May be I will get some boiled rice After that I will try If it is spicy, I will eat something The food is really yum I enjoyed it Now I will try the chutney So this is the chutney It looks small But it is very spicy The raja mirch Because of the size, it is not called raja mirch It has heat It is very spicy That is why it is called raja mirch I have taken just a little To taste it The one that I had with Akhuni It was very spicy. My mouth was burning for a long time Let’s taste it It is raja mirch It is eaten for its spiciness It has a smoky flavour Let’s have it for that It is very spicy But addictive Such a small quantity of chutney Will kill your head But the food is amazing I had just… I mean I just tasted it Rahul, do you have chocolate or toffee? Give me toffee No With some chicken? No chicken Nice It is like hallucination I am feeling it It is so spicy My nose and eyes are watering There is smoke coming out I can feel it all the way inside I am burning The houses that are built here There is a small kitchen garden at the back There is a pond where the fishes are kept There is a pig and chicken Is it? Is it the same in all the houses? Everybody Every household If they have a place Then they have this chicken A place for chicken A place for this pig Fishery too We are just starting right now Not much But If you have enough space You can do a fishery pond also And then a kitchen garden Yes We call this place At Tehotse Tehotse means In Angamidhali We call it Like the spirit So there is the stone Which is in the form of a Zebra So We believe Our forefathers They believed that in one night There is Lots of chanting And all So If we bring a monolith Or something like that We do chanting and all So They heard that And it was splendid there That’s why It was brought by attached Leaf only So We call this place Tehotse But this place, Konawa people, not only Konawa people, other people also do the same thing. But say from 5 to 10 years, or 10 to 15 years, we make a peer group, age group we call it, but a peer group. So they do something for the betterment of the community, for the village itself. So this building is built by one such age group. And during the September New Festival, mainly, that is, during the September New Festival, we settle here. So you have two major festivals? Yeah, yeah, we have more than that, but the major festival is September New Festival, that is the only festival, otherwise too we have the paddy transplantation festival also. And you have like sowing of seed and harvest festival. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very much. Harvest festival is there, sowing of the seed festival also is there, that time too the best thing. We have lots of rice beer. Lots of meat. Lots of meat, yeah. Each day, one or two person, one or two family, they will host, they are the host. And there’ll be a community feast. Yeah. So we will be going to their one field, their one plantation farm. So we will plow the field, that’s all. And they will have, they will prepare everything for the feast. Maybe next time when I’m here in… Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, you’re most welcome. I should plan my visit accordingly. Sorry that these days after Christianity and all, we are not doing, not practicing much. But still we are doing it. Okay, one thing I will just tell you, explain you from here. Khonoma village is named after that, what I’m saying is that Goltara Fragantissima, that’s a plant which grows almost on the ridges. The first settlers, when they came, they have named that as Khono. Then Khono is the plant, Me means the people, Re means the village, we call it. So we have more than, at least, we have more than 1,500 household, we have. Population is almost very less, 3,000. But majority of the people living here, they have settled down in Dimapur, in the plain sectors and all. So now here too we have very few people only. It’s only about 600, 700 household. We have seven ceremonial gates, this is one of that. And Khonoma people, we are in three clans. One is Tevoma, one is Merhema, and one is Semoma. So this is one of the gate, we have seven gates. During the headhunting days in Nagaland, that is, the gate can be closed. It is a wooden gate, but now too, after coming to Christianity, we have made with a stone gate, not wooden gate. So this leads to Merhema fort, and we have three forts, that is a place for defense. So during headhunting days, all the ladies or maybe the children will be put in that place, because we burned all the house and everything. So that’s why we made a fort, place of defense, we call it, for the security also, but for the children and the women flocks. I wanted to see Morong. Yeah, yeah, very much. So, okay, one more thing I will explain to you. This is the headgear of a human being. So this shows that the village has festivals. And this is the head of the mitun, the horn of. So this shows that the village has some money. Because earlier we didn’t have any cash and all, only this, a person who has more mitun, he’s a rich man. It’s a symbol of abundance and prosperity. Yes, and this shows festivities. And this is the sun and the moon. Because we don’t believe in any other god, we don’t pray or worship any other god, but we just believe in the sun and the moon. And the spirit. Yeah, that’s all. Animism. Yeah, animism, yeah. So now most of the people in this village, they have converted to Christianity. Yeah, yeah. Not most, everybody. Everybody? Yeah. So you don’t follow animism anymore? You worship nature, spirit? No, no, no, yeah, we don’t do that. But we still follow some of those things. The gate of Konama Gate, we have made this. This is a plank of wood only. But now we don’t use this much, just for like a study center. We do it for the children. In initial days it was a place of defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s same, according to everything I’ve seen, just for people to have defense. Because we have war among ourselves also. Not with other villages, but from the same village, clan by clan, yeah. But now it’s quite peaceful. No, no, no, yeah, yeah. Now too, nothing happens. No, nothing happens. Yeah. Now it’s just like a symbolic institution. Yeah, yeah. The fiercest of battles were fought between the British and the Nagas during 1850-79 in this Simoma Fort of Konama. Yes. This fort was described as one of the strongest in the Northeast by Major John Butler of the British Army. Marung means dormitory. What activities are there here? What we do in Marung is, in the youth time, you can come after dinner, you can come and sleep here. And also in the Marung, there is always a fireplace, as you have seen. So, from there, the elderly people would tell us the tales of… Storytelling. Yeah, yeah. Folk tales. Yes. Folk tales and all. They will tell us. So, from here, we learn what to do and what not to do also. So, if anything happens to a person, like if this is my Marung, then if I have done something wrong, they will bring me here and will decide what punishment will be given to me. Or even if I am a wrestler and if I have won, then also, I will be appreciated by the Marung people. So, this is one of the center places where we educated ourselves first about our life, our history and all. So, this is a place of learning. Yes. Earlier too, we didn’t have education school and all. Only after the British or the American Baptists, they came. After that, we have education. Education. But before… Before that, from this place, only in the morong, we learn everything. Tell us about this basket. This is a basket of different types. This basket is just for like firewood and all. These are for grains. All these are for grains. These are bamboo baskets. This is millet. These are bamboo baskets. Yeah, yeah. This is the frame only. You have to put inside and you have to work with it. So, this is pike. Pounding board. Yes, pounding board. This is used to pound rice. Yes. And what do you call this? We call this kishajar. What is this? And this is a spoon itself. Wooden spoon? Yeah, wooden spoon. And these are wooden plates. During festivals or weddings, we just make the curry to separate the meat, everything. So, we keep it here. Or even sometimes during festivals, the young boys and girls, they can eat from this also. It’s like a bowl also. It’s like a boat. A bowl which everybody can eat. Say, 15, 10, 15 persons can have food. This is, we call it kwehu. That is a round sitting place. So, a person who can give seven fish to the village, he can construct this. So, this is hekha kwehu. Hekha is a person who has given the fish for seven times. And after that also, he has done for the fishery pond also. So, even for fishery pond also, you need to contribute something. Yeah. So, a person who can do seven fish can construct this round sitting place. There are 52 seats here. So, in a way, it works as an amphitheater. It’s like an amphitheater. Yeah. Like where most of the functions happen and of the village, like dance and all the celebrations. Yeah, for the dance too, it happens from here. All the three kilns, we have three kilns. So, all of them, they will come during the month of May and they will dance here. And when you say kiln, you mean locality? Kiln means a colony, like a colony, it seems. Like a neighborhood. Yeah, yeah. It’s a home of a peer group. So, they have a foster father. So, every sacred festival, they have to decorate their house. If there is no, anything happens. But if there are some deaths and all from the family or nearby person, then they cannot have that. But if not, they have. So, after finishing all this decoration, we call, this is according to the decoration of a female attire also. Because these are like the necklace of a woman. Oh, sorry. So, it happens, it goes on that. So, it happens, it goes on that. So, these big ones, they are the seashell, which the boys, the men, they carry on the backside. So, on the fifth day of the sacred festival, we will go out with our young girls and all, and we will collect this. This is the inner part of the tree, which we, the leaf is eatable also. We call it Tiher. Thank you, thank you Vasile. It was a great learning experience for me. I learnt a lot from you today. I don’t know how much I have given you knowledge, but it’s a pleasure for me too also. So that, if you go home, you just introduce your people also, or your friends also, so that anyone can come. We are free to give our service. Can I hug you? Yeah, sure. Very much. Sakre has made some local Naga delicacies for us, which include smoked pork, boiled mustard leaves, mixed vegetables, silkworms and rice. This is silkworm. One, two, three. This is creamy. Creamy and soft. Yeah, very soft. Thank you.

In today’s episode we are taking you around the village of Khonoma, Asia’s first green village, which is best known for eco-tourism and its historical battles with the British in the past. This popular tourist destination boasts of strong community ties, rich history, profound tales of valour, and the unusual conservation efforts by the villagers. This small hamlet is blessed with abundant natural beauty. Most of the people who live in Khonoma are from the Angami Naga Tribe of Nagaland.

On reaching there we received a warm welcome by our local host Vivoselie Neyase and his family. Lunch preparation was underway in the traditional manner. While the country chicken curry was simmering over a wood fire, the gracious lady overlooking the meal preparation conjured up a quick veg stir fry over the gas burner. Next she strained some local rice beer called khe straight from the huge caudron where it was fermenting and served us with some boiled local beans and Naga chilli based snacks called kherhii mix. Its sharp and hot flavour complemented the slightly sweet, tangy and refreshing flavor of the khe.
Next she roasted some tree tomatoes and Naga chillies in the fire and pounded them together to make a local favourite condiment called Tathu. With this last dish in place, the humble meal was laid out on the table. It consisted of rice, dal, a runny no spices country chicken curry, veg stir fry and tathu. We loved the mild taste of stew like country chicken curry, the robust taste of the veg stir fry. Overall it was a gratifying culinary experience that captured the essence of the local Naga cuisine except that the fiery heat of the tree tomato chutney made with the once renowned as the world’s spiciest pepper, the Naga chilli left Anubhav in tears. Managing this intense heat of the chutney proved to be quite a challenge for him.

After the meal we embarked on a village tour with our gracious host. Khonoma, perched atop a hill, revealed delightful surprises around every corner. Our guide led us through some significant landmarks, such as the forts, church, moirang or dormitories, traditional houses, majestic wooden gates, and the circular village gathering spots, each narrating a tale of its eventful past and the local way of life. Our host, an exceptional guide, and the warm, welcoming residents made this experience even more memorable.

About the host:
https://anubhavsapra.com/

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Text by Swetaleena Nayak