"....If we look into the Gorkha community, we can broadly divide them into two different races- the Aryan and the non-Aryan or Mongoloid...."-The Gorkhas : A glance at their culture and Traditions by Min Liwang. Kalimpong is a place where multiple cultures and traditions of different communities blend to give essence to a single and unified Gorkha culture. This diversity as well as unity is largely reflected through our food. A few days back, 'Sirjanshil Samuha' had taken this beautiful initiative of organising a 'Traditional Mountain Food Festival'. This festival was the first of its kind here and got a pretty good response from people hence they hope to get this tradition going for more years to come.
The event was held in the 'town hall'...well, not exactly 'in', but just right next to it. Stalls were lined up according to different tribes/castes showcasing their traditional dishes.
Although the staple food here is daal, bhaat, achhar and tarkari (pulse, rice, pickle and curry), every stall had interesting stuff to try out - from momos to worms- they had it all. The first stalls on either sides were those of the 'Khas'...
and the Limbus...
And then there were : Khambu
Newar..
Sherpa..
Biswakarma and Gurung...
The Bhutia, Tamang and Lepcha had also set up similar stalls and displayed their exquisite delicasies. Writing about such a vast assortment in one post with the details I intend to include in it will be a hotchpotch; so instead, I have split the entire post on' the food in Kalimpong' into two volumes. So till the next part comes about (I promise it won't take long), keep loving Kalimpong and feast your heart out as you celebrate the dawn of 2016. :) Happy new year!!!
