Dung po (rice cooked in bamboo)
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Rice packed into green bamboo tubes with water and roasted over a fire, taking on the bamboo's fresh aroma.
Region: Arunachal PradeshOccasion: Picnics, journeys, festivals and hunting tripsTime: 1 hourServes: 4Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 cups sticky or ordinary rice, soaked 1 hour
- 2–3 fresh green bamboo tubes, each closed at one end by a node
- Water as needed
- Banana or other large leaves to plug the open end
- A pinch of salt (optional)
Method
- Fill each bamboo tube about two-thirds with soaked rice.
- Add water to come about 2 cm above the rice and plug the open end with rolled leaves.
- Lean the tubes over an open fire, turning them now and then, for 40–50 minutes until the outside is charred.
- Split the bamboo lengthwise with a knife and take out the cylinder of cooked rice.
- Slice and serve with meat, fish or chutney.
History
Cooking in bamboo tubes is an old method across north-east India, where bamboo is everywhere and serves as both pot and container.
Significance
Bamboo rice needs no utensils, so it is made outdoors during festivals, field work and journeys through the forest.