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ArticleVerified 2026-10-24
Food of Meghalaya and Nagaland — jadoh, tungrymbai, smoked pork with axone and fermented bamboo shoot
What to eat in Meghalaya and Nagaland: jadoh, tungrymbai, dohkhlieh, smoked pork with axone, fermented bamboo shoot, anishi and the rice drinks zutho, thuthse.
The food of Meghalaya and Nagaland is built on rice, pork, leaves and fermentation. Wikipedia calls rice the staple in both, eaten with foraged vegetables and fermented things, and says the dishes of the hill communities are many and different. This guide goes by what Wikipedia records, read on 24 October 2026. We name no restaurant, price or rating, because we have none we can check.
Photos: Wann Majaw (CC0) · Real Sovan (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Meghalaya: Khasi dishes
Wikipedia says the cooking falls into three regions by tribe: Khasi, Garo and Jaintia. Shillong was the colonial capital for the whole of the Northeast, which made it a food hub with a colonial taste: potatoes came with the British, and breads, cookies and cakes are tea-time favourites.
- Jadoh, rice cooked with meat.
- Tungrymbai, fermented soybeans. They are boiled, wrapped in leaves and left by the fire to ferment for up to four days, then crushed to a paste and cooked in mustard oil with pork, onion, ginger, garlic and black sesame paste.
- Dohkhlieh, a pork salad, and dohjem, pork cooked with sesame seeds.
- Tungtap, fermented fish, and doh masi khleh, a beef salad.
- Syrwa tit tung, a wild mushroom soup, and syiar nei-iong, a chicken curry made with black sesame.
Wikipedia adds that the Slow Food movement has listed many of these Indigenous dishes in its Ark of Taste catalogue. For drinks, it names sha shiahkrot, a Khasi tea from the boiled root of a creeper, and cha khoo, a Jaintia rice drink.
Nagaland: rice, smoke and ferment
Wikipedia describes a typical Naga meal as rice with a meat dish, boiled greens and a chutney. Wikipedia says the food is often hot, with the Naga morich and bhut jolokia chilli, and that Sichuan pepper is a popular spice. Dried or smoked meat is an important ingredient, and families keep it for a year.
- Axone, or akhuni, fermented soybeans, a Sümi speciality, usually served with smoked pork or beef. The beans smell strongly; the Sümi name means deep smell.
- Fermented bamboo shoot, called bastenga, served with fish and pork. Wikipedia says the Lotha prepare it best, and that pork cooked with plenty of fermented bamboo shoot is very popular.
- Anishi, fermented taro leaves made into patties, smoked or dried, an Ao speciality.
- Akibiye, a thick gravy of colocasia and bamboo shoots, made by the Sümi.
- Galho, a stew of rice, vegetables and meats, an Angami and Chakhesang speciality.
- Mesü, a pork or beef dish cooked with its blood, popular among the Angami.
The rice drinks are thuthse, the thicker, stronger, sweeter one, and zutho, which is lighter, both traditional among the Angami and Chakhesang.
Where to eat them
Start in Shillong and Kohima, and read things to do in Shillong and things to do in Kohima. The Hornbill Festival and the village festivals are the best days for Naga food; see the festivals by month. Read how to reach Meghalaya and Nagaland from Delhi.
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Rewalsar Lake
Temi Tea Garden — Sikkim's only tea garden, on the slopes below Tendong
Kabi Lungchok — the stones of the Lepcha–Bhutia blood brotherhood
Kasar Devi Temple, Almora — the ridge village above the town
Gondhla Fort, Lahaul
Triloknath Temple
Bir Tibetan Colony
St Andrew's Church, Darjeeling — the town's oldest church
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Questions people ask
What is jadoh?
A rice and meat dish of the Khasi, the best-known dish of Meghalaya. Wikipedia lists it first among the Khasi dishes, with tungrymbai, the fermented soybean, dohkhlieh, a pork salad, tungtap, fermented fish, and dohjem, pork in sesame seeds. Rice is the staple carbohydrate across the state, eaten with foraged vegetables and fermented foods.
What is axone?
A fermented soybean product of Nagaland, also written akhuni, from the Sümi word for deep smell. Wikipedia says soybeans are boiled, fermented for three to four days in summer and about a week in winter, then crushed and wrapped in banana leaf. It is often served with smoked pork and beef, and it smells strong.
Why is smoked meat common in Nagaland?
Wikipedia says smoked meat has practical value for farmers, foragers and hunters, and that families often keep it for a whole year as food security. Pork or beef is hung over a fire, or on the kitchen wall, anywhere from a day to a fortnight or more. A typical meal pairs rice with meat, boiled leaves and a chutney.