Jadoh is a signature dish of the Indian state of Meghalaya. The state’s population comprises three distinct communities—the Khasis, Garos, and Jaintias. Jadoh, as far as I know, is primarily a Khasi dish.
I had read and heard about jadoh during casual chats with friends or during idly surfing the net. But cooking it never occurred to me until I heard about the new restaurant in town that was apparently offering ‘tribal foods’.
I asked my sister to join me for a visit to the restaurant, but I decided to go through their menu on the Net first. I was excited to see jadoh on the menu, but got a mild surprise when I saw the meat options—chicken and mutton (in India, mutton depicts goat meat). Jadoh—and a lot of other meat-based dishes of that region—are mostly cooked with pork. (However, jadoh can also be made with chicken.)
So, since I had found out that one dish wasn’t ‘authentic’ enough to impress me, I had doubts about the rest as well. On a sudden impulse, I surfed the Net and found some recipes of jadoh that looked quite simple. So, I decided to try it out myself.
Getting the pork was easy, but getting the rice led to a slightly unpleasant comedy. When we asked for “short-grained rice”, the shopkeeper looked shocked. He produced a variety, cleared his throat, and said, “Let me tell you madam, mostly labourers eat this rice… It’s very good though. I also eat it. But it’s not… umm … for the likes of you. Are you sure you want this?”
The rice proved to be pretty good (even for a non-labourer like me). And, the end result was extremely tasty. But when I sent a photograph to two of my Jaintia friends, neither recognized what it was! One ingredient, which was clearly visible in the photograph, had apparently led to the confusion. It’s never put in jadoh. So, with new tips from them, the next attempt gave more ‘authentic’ results. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients (enough for three–four persons):
- Hill rice or any short-grained rice (preferably red rice): 2 cups. (Note: I got the ‘atap’ [husked] variety instead of the ‘seddho’ [parboiled] one)
- Fresh pork (that is, with fat): 300 gm
- Medium-sized onion (chopped): 1
- Ginger paste: 2 teaspoon
- Turmeric: ½ teaspoon
- Red pepper powder/ground black pepper: 1 teaspoon(or according to taste)
- Coriander (dhania) powder: ¾th teaspoon
- Bay leaves: 2
- Salt: To taste
Method:
- Wash the rice thoroughly and drain. Cut the pork into small (1–1.5-inch) cubes. This makes them easier to cook and they also spread evenly in the rice.
- Heat a flat-bottomed pan and put the pork pieces directly in it. The fat from the pork will be enough to cook it and the spices; adding extra oil will only make it too greasy.
- Once the fatty bits melt, add the chopped onion, ginger paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red/black pepper powder (I prefer black pepper). Fry the spices till these separate from the oil (fat).
- Burn the tips of the bay leaves and drop these in the pan. (Honestly, I don’t really know how the flavour differs from fried bay leaves. My Jaintia friend also told me this was important. So I did it, but I also ensured that the bay leaves were fried red.)
- Fry the pork mixed with the spices well until all of it is pretty reddish. I also add some salt at this point because I have this fear that the pork may taste bland in the end.
- Add the rice and fry for 2–3 minutes. Mix all the spices, meat, and rice well until the rice looks evenly yellow from the turmeric. Add salt and four cups of water—preferably warm water. (Thumb rule: whatever the amount of rice, the water will be double that.)
- Cover and simmer until cooked. If you find that the water has vanished but the pork or rice is still not done, add some more warm water and let it simmer until the water evaporates. Keep doing this until the dish is done to your satisfaction. Serve hot.
Total time taken: 60–75 minutes
Note:
- Jadoh, like biryani, tastes pretty good on its own though you may opt for anything tangy to go with it. The first time, I actually ate it with some leftover ‘sarson ka saag’ (a mustard-leaf dish from Punjab). They gelled perfectly (ahem! the taste of national integration!)
- Jadoh, as my Jaintia friend said, can also be cooked with chicken. In that case, the rules remain the same. But you need to fry the spices and the chicken in mustard oil. However, chicken will obviously cook faster than pork, so you may need to cook the rice a bit first, and then add the fried chicken bits. I am yet to try this version.
- Some people say that to cook ‘authentic’ jadoh, pork/chicken blood has to be added to the dish (though I don’t know exactly when the blood goes into the cooking process). I’d not mind putting it, though I understand that most people would find it repulsive. Besides, the pork mostly comes frozen and I would not like to tell the chicken-seller to pack a bagful of chicken blood for me! However, my Jaintia friends say it’s not really mandatory. One of them even said that she had not really liked the blood-mixed version when she had tasted it once. So, cook it without the blood, it will be authentic enough.
Happy cooking!