User:Haoreima/Ngari

Ngari is a traditional Meitei food.

Etymology
In Meitei language, the word Ngari is derived from two words, “Nga” meaning fish and suffix “-ri” meaning “to season” as seen morphologically.

Ingredients
Ngari is mainly made from the sundried salt-free, which are abundantly available in the water bodies of Manipur. To meet additional demands and supplies, these fishes are also imported from Brahmaputra valley of Assam and Bangladesh, as well as from far states like Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal in dried formats, to Manipur.

Ngari is an important ingredient of oil-free foods such as eromba and kangsoi of Meitei cuisine. In such cases, it is mixed with potatoes, chilies, etc.

In recent years, sun dried Setipinna phasa is also used as raw materials for making Ngari.

Oils used in Ngari preparation
Most people use vegetable oils like mustard oil and sunflower for making Ngari. But some use fish oil as it provides the essential N-3 fatty acids (Omega-3 fatty acids). For commercial purposes, people use vegetable oils as it reduces the cost of production.

Recipes
The method of making Ngari is of two main types. One way is the indigenous method and the other way is the modified commercial method.

Ngari Chaphu
Ngari Chaphu, sometimes also known as Kharung, is a Meitei language term for a traditional vessel or jar used in the fermentation of fish to make Ngari. It is usually rounded in buttom, narrow in neck, and earthen made. It is available in different sizes ranging from the capacity of storing 15 kg to 75 kg of fishes. The thickness of these pots varies from 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm, and their colour is generally brick red. One unique feature of this pot is that their quality increases if used again and again for many years because they become more air-tight, thereby providing a more favourable condition for fermentation inside the container.
 * Uniqueness

Pre-processing of Chaphus
Before using these chaphus for fermentation, oils are applied to their inner walls and are dried in the sun. The oils maybe any vegetable oils like sunflower, mustard or palm oil. It is done continuously.

The oil smearing and sun drying process take place for one to two weeks of time. The process is repeated until the containers are not able to absorb any oil further.

It is economically more profitable to use old containers because new containers absorb more oils, thereby increasing the cost of production.

Covering paste
Some dough like pastes, made from fish powder or even from some trash fishes and from Puntius which are discarded during drying process, are used to cover the mouth of the containers.

Covering leaves
Broad leaves such as those of Musa paradacea or bottle gourd and catesu leaves or even newspapers, are used for temporary covering the pastes in the containers' mouths.

Sealing the mouth
The mouths of the containers are again tightly closed using thick mud paste made from soils, having humus and fine coarses. Sometimes, rug sacs are also used.

Production
Ngari is primarily produced in massive amounts in the Imphal Valley of and its neighbouring places.

Ngari is usually manufactured during the timing ranging from the month of October to that of January. One problem faced by the makers of Ngari is that there is a lack of any advanced food processing industry in Manipur. So, Ngari processing and marketing is controlled by a few rich business people.
 * Challenges

Nutritional values
The approximate composition of Ngari is ash (5.49 %), moisture (36.03 %), nitrogen (6.14 %) and lipid (13.36 %). The biochemical quality of Ngari is moisture (33.5 %), pH (6.2), ash (21.1%), protein (34.1%), fat (13.2%), carbohydrate (31.6%) and food value of 381.6 kcal/100g. Around 36.44 % moisture and 36.25 % crude protein are found in Ngari made from Setipinna sp. found in Manipur.