Shopping for giant hornets?
From black rice to dried meats and fish, this ethnic foodstore by three city entrepreneurs brings Northeastern fare to Bengalureans’ platters
Ordinarily, dried giant hornets wouldn’t be on most Bengalureans’ shopping list but that hasn’t deterred three young professionals from Manipur to set up what they describe as an ethnic foods website. The Bengaluru-based trio, brothers Reisang Risom (33), Yarthing Risom (23) and their cousin Kazip Lungleng (24), launched FoodYez website and mobile app about three months ago after about a year of working on the project. From smoked fish to preserved fruit candy and beef pickle to black rice, FoodYez sources about 80 per cent of its products from Nagaland and Manipur.
Before FoodYez took its current shape, Reisang, a software engineer by profession, was playing around with a host of ideas revolving around the Northeast. “I had initially thought about developing an application that could work as a networking site for people from the Northeast. However, we soon realised that it was too vast an undertaking and we figured it would be better to focus on one thing. Food seemed like a good place to start,” Reisang says. While Reisang still has a day job, it's his brothers who deal with the nitty-gritty of daily operations. Kazip, a BBM graduate from CMR College in Banaswadi who has spent nine years in the city supervises and works with the cook who makes all their pickles. “While all the preserved foodstuff and grains are procured from home, most of the meat pickles are made here. We buy beef (buffalo meat) from Shivajinagar market and prepare the pickles in-house,” Kazip says.
Smoking is another natural form of preservation used in remote areas with little or no access to electricity and refrigeration. The smoked grass carp on FoodYez is also sourced from Ukhrul district in Manipur where fish, caught from paddy fields (after the rice is harvested) or from small streams, is laid on makeshift bamboo or wire trays which are fixed at a certain height above the source of smoke/fire in a small hut.
But it’s the prized Naga delicacy – the Giant Hornet Larva – that catches one’s attention. While fresh hornet larvae, harvested between October and November, is considered the best, Reisang says that the demand for their dried version was so great that they sold out in a matter of days. “In Nagaland, a small can of fresh larvae will cost almost `4,000,” he adds. Here, they sell 85gms of dried giant hornet for `500. Packed with protein, the fresh larvae are usually steamed and eaten.
Smoking and drying, apart – fermenting is another important process followed across Nagaland. The trademark Akhuni, fermented soyabean, is made by several tribes across Nagaland by boiling fresh beans and leaving them in a pot to ferment for a few days. The lightly mashed beans are then wrapped in banana leaves and sold. The pungent beans are used to make dishes such as smoked pork with akhuni. Anishi, fermented yam leaves, is another key ingredient used with pork dishes.
The famed Bhut Jhulukia or King Chilli, considered one of the hottest in the world, is also available – albeit in dried form or in a pickle. Going ahead, Reisang hopes that they would be able to sell fresh produce that is indigenous to the North East. “Right now, our cargo is sent by train once in two weeks. The train leaves on a Friday and gets here by Monday. We plan to fly in fresh fruit and vegetables, soon – since these would be organic and indigenous to the North East, we are hoping that people wouldn’t mind paying a slightly higher price for it.”
As of now, Kazip and Yarthing are overseeing or making deliveries themselves every day from 4-8pm in order to ensure that products reach customers the same day. They also have a Resto section through which they deliver freshly-prepared North Eastern meals at nominal rates around Kammanahalli, Banaswadi and Lingarajapuram. “This is popular among young working professionals and students who miss home food. You can buy a full meal within `100.”
The three entrepreneurs, who have invested their own savings in the venture are hoping that the sizeable North Eastern population (approximately 3 lakh as per a survey by GISKAA – see box) in Bengaluru as well as the growing awareness among citizens regarding ethnic and organic food will help grow their business. Meanwhile, adventurous home cooks can ask the enterprising youngsters for tips on cooking the hornet.
Ordinarily, dried giant hornets wouldn’t be on most Bengalureans’ shopping list but that hasn’t deterred three young professionals from Manipur to set up what they describe as an ethnic foods website. The Bengaluru-based trio, brothers Reisang Risom (33), Yarthing Risom (23) and their cousin Kazip Lungleng (24), launched FoodYez website and mobile app about three months ago after about a year of working on the project. From smoked fish to preserved fruit candy and beef pickle to black rice, FoodYez sources about 80 per cent of its products from Nagaland and Manipur.
Before FoodYez took its current shape, Reisang, a software engineer by profession, was playing around with a host of ideas revolving around the Northeast. “I had initially thought about developing an application that could work as a networking site for people from the Northeast. However, we soon realised that it was too vast an undertaking and we figured it would be better to focus on one thing. Food seemed like a good place to start,” Reisang says. While Reisang still has a day job, it's his brothers who deal with the nitty-gritty of daily operations. Kazip, a BBM graduate from CMR College in Banaswadi who has spent nine years in the city supervises and works with the cook who makes all their pickles. “While all the preserved foodstuff and grains are procured from home, most of the meat pickles are made here. We buy beef (buffalo meat) from Shivajinagar market and prepare the pickles in-house,” Kazip says.
Yarthing, a National Institute of Technology graduate from Tiruchirappalli, talks about how sourcing the food products from the North East has been a challenge as a lot of the food eaten locally is foraged as opposed to cultivated commercially. “For instance, we have three varieties of smoked or dried fish and most of these are hard to find here. The dried Channa Orientalis (a type of snakehead fish) is typically found in water pockets in paddy fields. We source ours from Ukhrul district in Manipur,” Yarthing explains. Typically, the dried fish is pounded or mixed with chillies to make a sort of chutney that can be eaten with rice.
Smoking is another natural form of preservation used in remote areas with little or no access to electricity and refrigeration. The smoked grass carp on FoodYez is also sourced from Ukhrul district in Manipur where fish, caught from paddy fields (after the rice is harvested) or from small streams, is laid on makeshift bamboo or wire trays which are fixed at a certain height above the source of smoke/fire in a small hut.
But it’s the prized Naga delicacy – the Giant Hornet Larva – that catches one’s attention. While fresh hornet larvae, harvested between October and November, is considered the best, Reisang says that the demand for their dried version was so great that they sold out in a matter of days. “In Nagaland, a small can of fresh larvae will cost almost `4,000,” he adds. Here, they sell 85gms of dried giant hornet for `500. Packed with protein, the fresh larvae are usually steamed and eaten.
Smoking and drying, apart – fermenting is another important process followed across Nagaland. The trademark Akhuni, fermented soyabean, is made by several tribes across Nagaland by boiling fresh beans and leaving them in a pot to ferment for a few days. The lightly mashed beans are then wrapped in banana leaves and sold. The pungent beans are used to make dishes such as smoked pork with akhuni. Anishi, fermented yam leaves, is another key ingredient used with pork dishes.
The famed Bhut Jhulukia or King Chilli, considered one of the hottest in the world, is also available – albeit in dried form or in a pickle. Going ahead, Reisang hopes that they would be able to sell fresh produce that is indigenous to the North East. “Right now, our cargo is sent by train once in two weeks. The train leaves on a Friday and gets here by Monday. We plan to fly in fresh fruit and vegetables, soon – since these would be organic and indigenous to the North East, we are hoping that people wouldn’t mind paying a slightly higher price for it.”
As of now, Kazip and Yarthing are overseeing or making deliveries themselves every day from 4-8pm in order to ensure that products reach customers the same day. They also have a Resto section through which they deliver freshly-prepared North Eastern meals at nominal rates around Kammanahalli, Banaswadi and Lingarajapuram. “This is popular among young working professionals and students who miss home food. You can buy a full meal within `100.”
The three entrepreneurs, who have invested their own savings in the venture are hoping that the sizeable North Eastern population (approximately 3 lakh as per a survey by GISKAA – see box) in Bengaluru as well as the growing awareness among citizens regarding ethnic and organic food will help grow their business. Meanwhile, adventurous home cooks can ask the enterprising youngsters for tips on cooking the hornet.
