Pan Borak

Tripuri steamed fish or meat in banana leaf — fresh river fish (small catfish, rohu, or snakehead) or chicken pieces seasoned with shallots, green chilli, ginger, turmeric, salt, and a small amount of berma, wrapped tightly in overlapping banana leaves, tied with strips of bamboo, and placed on or buried in the embers of a wood fire for fifteen to twenty minutes until the banana leaf exterior chars and the interior steams in its own moisture. The banana leaf seals the moisture inside and imparts its own faintly grassy, aromatic quality to the flesh; the berma seasons from within. The pan borak is the simplest and most ancient Tripuri cooking method; no vessel, no oil, just fire and leaf. The fish cooked inside the charred leaf is moist, clean-flavoured, and carries a subtle leaf-smoke quality.