State: Meghalaya Dish: Jadoh We move onto the next North eastern state of Meghalaya today. The name means ’the abode of clouds’ in Sanskrit. Just the name makes me think of beautiful sky kissing moutains and luscious greenery and breathtaking landscapes. Coming back to reality, about one-third of the state is forested and the forests are notable for biodiversity of mammals, birds and plants. It was previously part of Assam, but formed a new state in 1972. Tribal people make up the majority of Meghalaya’s population. The Khasis are the largest group, followed by the Garos and the Jaintias. Meghalaya is one of the 3 states in India to have Christian majority with 70.3% of the population practising Christianity (other 2 being Mizoram and Nagalan, also in the northeastern India).

Today’s Dish: Finding a vegetarian dish from Meghalaya was quite a challenge, so I decided to turn a meat dish vegetarian. Jadoh is a Khasi delicacy and is made with the local red rice and pork. It is a typical Meghalaya dish, known for its aromatic taste and minimum use of oil. I used store bought Oriental style tofu in place of pork. My initial plan was to marinate soy chunks (meal maker) in some vegan worcestershire sauce to get the meaty flavor, but I was out of soy chunks – so had to resort to an easier plan B. I really liked this dish because it is very clean tasting without a ton of masalas/ spices. I guess I prefer bland food – sometimes and this is one dish I would probably make again.

Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 70Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 73Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 85Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 58Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 90Meghalaya    Vegetarian Jadoh  with Tofu  Recipe - 98