Eromba: Mashed Potato with Bamboo-shoot Chutney

Eromba is a traditional chutney of the Meitei's residing in the Imphal valley in North East India. This is a really spicy chutney made with the combination of the favorite local ingredients like fermented dried fish, fermented bamboo-shoot and Raja/King chilli.

This chutney will make it's appearance in a lot of the dinner tables of the Naga's residing in Manipur, but not so much in Nagaland. A chutney is a MUST for lunch and dinner, and so according to the main dish, a chutney will be made that will compliment the main dish.

Eromba goes beautifully well with pork curry, made the traditional way. The key to a good eromba is the quality of the fermented fish, the fish should be close to sweet smelling and the best way to judge is to just pick up the most expensive one in the market. It's okay to make it with any chilli that's available at hand, but it taste best when made with dried raja/king chilli. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Medium Sized - Potatoes

5 Medium Sized - Dried Fermented Fish

1 Big - Raja Chilli

1 Medium - Onion, Sliced evenly

6-7 Pods - Garlic

1/2 Cup -Fermented  Bamboo Shoot

Salt - According to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the potatoes and bamboo shoot. Peel the potatoes and keep aside

2. Roast the fermented fish and King chilli (you can use an old slotted spoon for this purpose) and keep aside

3. Put the cleaned garlic pods, the roasted ingredients, some salt and mash it together to bring out a paste

4. Mash the potatoes, mix it with the bamboo shoot. 

5. To this mixture add the paste and mix it really well. Add about 2-3 Tbsp of water to get the consistency     

    you want. 

6. Garnish it with the sliced onions and some coriander leaves if you want.

The quantity will be just right for 3-4 people. Have it over plain rice and pork curry and you have a complete lip-smacking meal. 

Bon Appetit!!