Jegietsang dui- A unique traditional food of the Zeliang Nagas

Dr Patu K Zeliang


ACTO, Plant Breeding & Genetics, KVK Peren

 


The Zeliang tribe utilizes numerous wild and cultivated plants for common food items (Singh et al., 2015). Among them, one of the unique and traditional food item of the Zeliang tribe is the Jegietsang and Jegietsang dui, which is prepared from mustard leaves. The process is very laborious and time consuming and quality of the end product depends upon the expertise of the maker. The two food items forms part of a regular diet of Zeliang Naga where the paste is eaten by making chutney with chilly and other condiments. It is also eaten mixed with roasted dried or cured meat. The dried leaves or Jegietsang is consumed like any other dried vegetable.

 

Method of preparation of Jegietsang dui and Jegietsang 


1.    Approx 15 kg of mustard leaves are plucked and collected in a basket

 


2.    The leaves are laid out in a mat and allowed to wither and dry for 3-5 days to turn yellow in shade

 


3.    Then collected and pounded in a traditional wooden pounder

 


4.    The crushed leaves are then collected in jar or pots for 10 days

 


5.    Every alternate day the leaves are pressed inside the pots/jars

 


6.    After 10 days, the leaves are then wringed to extract the juice

 


7.    The leaves are then taken out and dried in the sun and used as preserved food item known as Jegietsang. These dried leaves can be stored for months.

 


8.    Approx 5 litre juice is obtained, which is then strained  three times with a strainer

 


9.    The strained juice collected is then cooked over the fire 

 


10.    While cooking, the bubbles that first come are all removed with a wooden ladle

 


11.    After all the bubbles are removed, then the pot can be kept over the fire without stirring

 


12.    After 3hrs cooking, the juice become a black paste known as Jegietsang dui 

 

End product: Approximately ½ litre of thick black paste can be obtained, which is then stored in a bamboo mug, and is usually sold at Rs.2000/- per half litre bottle in the market. The paste in a tightly capped bamboo mug can be stored edible for more than a year. The dried leaves or Jegietsang is sold in the market at around Rs.50 for a 250 gm packet.

 

Ref: Ethnomedicinal value of traditional food plants used by the Zeliang tribes of Nagaland (2015) Singh NP, Gujurel PR, Rethy P. Indian journal of Traditional knowledge, vol14(2) pp298-305 

 

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