Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Rangamati… I have travelled a lot in these three hilly areas of Bangladesh. Therefore, various tribal foods have also been tasted. One of the most popular dishes in the hills is bamboo chicken, that is, chicken cooked in bamboo tubes. The appeal of bamboo chicken is immense even for the tourists visiting the hills. Not only meat but also fish can be cooked in this way. It has no Bengali name. In Chakma language, it is called ‘Chumo Gorang’. And, we, the urbanite call it ‘Bamboo Chicken’.
I’ve tasted bamboo chicken for the first time in Khagrachhari. I still remember the liquid soupy texture with the pungent aroma of ginger and a little spicy taste of green chillies. I’ve had the curry in other places too, whenever I went to these hilly areas. I always relish its taste. But recently, I got the taste of a different version of this food on a tour. That is what I am sharing here.
A small island woke up in Kaptai lake, Rangamati, named ‘Adar Char’. Our plan was to camp there at night and go to Langadu the next day by Nityaranjan dada’s boat. Dada said, “Till now, you’ve only tasted Bamboo Chicken. This time, I’ll prepare ‘Bamboo Kachki’ for you guys!”
On this island, fishermen come in groups to catch fish. They left the net all night in the lake. When they pull the net in the morning, the fresh silver-coloured small fishes jump. It looks so good! Fresh Kachki fish was bought from those fishermen. Dada immediately cleaned the fish and left in search of bamboo. The raw bamboo is good for this cooking process. Raw bamboo does not burn easily due to its high water content. So the food can be cooked by keeping it in the heat for a long time.
Although all types of bamboo are used for cooking, mainly Dulu bamboo and Faroa bamboo are used because they are large in size. If you want to cook chicken inside the bamboo tube, you have to cut the meat into small pieces. Since we were cooking small fish, so there was nothing to be worried about.
When bamboo was brought, the fish was later prepared with spices. In a bowl, the fish was smeared with chopped onion, grated ginger, small hill pepper, salt, a little turmeric, and mustard oil. Then the mouth was closed with banana leaves inserted into the bamboo. The bamboo, however, is cut in such a way that it is closed on the other side. It seemed to heat evenly everywhere, so Nitya dada was turning the bamboo from time to time.
I was wondering how he would understand whether the curry was ready or not. Then, I saw bubbles coming out of the mouth stuck with banana leaves. When the water rises from the curry and the soup-like part comes out, it is understood that it has been cooked. I saw it took like twenty minutes.
The bamboo was taken down. As soon as I removed the banana leaf, I got a nice smell coming out from the curry. I did not delay filling my stomach with delicious bamboo Kachki with hot rice. The cooking was so wonderful! I had no idea that such a good meal could be prepared with so few ingredients. But the people in the hill area usually cook with fewer spices.
Roaming around means eating well. Wherever there is a variation in food, there is my attraction. Although I’m not that much foody, I love to taste ethnic traditional foods. The mountains are therefore good, not only for their natural beauty but also for their variety of foods.
