It was just as I expected. And then it wasn’t.
My first stop in Assam was a village called Margherita, home to the Singpho tribe. I had visions of a European town, maybe a throwback to colonial India, caught in a time warp perhaps, where locals still used firewood, and cooked with what they grew.
Neither Wikipedia nor Google threw up any details except a story behind the name of the town. An Italian engineer, Chevalas Roberto Paganini, who supervised the construction of the rail section here, decided to name the town Margherita in honour of a 19th century Italian queen. Why he did that and why the name stayed is anybody’s guess.
The drive to Margherita was pleasant but uneventful. And then we entered the village. The first house was modestly sized but with a large garden lush with what looked like tea plants. And then we passed a second house with a similar garden and another. We had just arrived in a town where every household was growing tea in their backyard!
Our stop was the Singpho Eco Village and it was late evening when we reached. The main house was beautiful, built with bamboo and wood that was easily available in the area, and with tea gardens all around for as far as you could see. Our first cup of tea was served with a piece of jaggery on the side. It looked like any other black tea. Take a sip and a strong, unexpected flavour hits your palette. Green, smoky and like nothing I’d ever tasted before. With that we got our first lesson in the Singpho Bamboo tea or coin tea as they call it. We also met Rajesh Singpho, the unofficial leader of the Singphos. One of the first things he told us, with quiet pride, was that the Singpho tribe were the first Indians to find and drink tea as we know it today.
I was there with Ravi Kothari, Teabox’s procurement manager and Tridib Konwar, photographer from Assam. All of us were curious and had many questions. The significance of the Singphos in how the world discovered the assamica variant of tea is a story that’s not commonly known. One version is that Maniram Dewan, the first Indian commercial tea planter, who was from neighboring Jorhat, brought Robert Bruce of the East India Company to Margherita, and showed him these wild tea bushes, a hardy and strong plant so unlike its delicate Chinese cousin. On how the Singphos themselves discovered tea, Rajesh told us that popular folklore talks of two brothers who were hunting in the forest and were tired and hungry. They sat down to rest near a tree, and plucking a few leaves, chewed on them. To their surprise they started feeling better soon after and were neither thirsty nor hungry anymore. Those leaves were tea leaves, of course.
Rajesh was reticent, almost shy when we first met him. But that too, we saw. was a Singpho trait. They are a culturally rich community who have encountered economic exploitation but are now determined to keep their way of life alive. And they don’t like to rush anything.
The Singphos have rebuilt a community and are keen to bring back traditional tea growing practices, sustainability and organic agriculture and a collective way of living. The three days that we spent there were nothing short of inspiring.
They have chosen to work as a community. For instance, there was one processing facility that is collectively owned by the community. As for the tea gardens, well, that was even more fascinating. We were invited to the home of Rajesh Singpho and after being served another cup of coin tea, we requested a tour of his backyard.There, we saw his entire family walking through plants that were atleast 8-10ft tall. We watched in amazement as everyone picked leaves methodically from the branches of these trees. Even Ravi, who has been in the industry for many years, admitted that he had never seen tea bushes this tall.
Once the plucking was complete, the women emptied the leaves into a big wok. They were slow roasted and set out to dry in the sun. Once dried, they were crushed and filled into bamboo hollows which were placed on racks above the cooking hearth. Over as long as two months, the teas would slowly smoke over the fire. When it was ready, the entire stick of tea would be removed from the bamboo and small dices, the size of a coin, would be cut to make a cup of tea.
Much as I found the taste of tea to be pleasant, for me, it was their food that caught my attention. Unlike most of India, in a manner reminiscent of another age, the Singpho cuisine is determined by season trends; the use of spices is negligible, and flavours are based on herbs they forage from their backyard. We were served local dishes at the lodge throughout our stay. And it was one delicacy after another. All the cooking is done over a fireplace and while there was a modern day gas stove in a corner, we never saw it being used.
The flavor that slow, wood fire cooking imparts in food is unforgettable for me. Skewers of pork spiced with ginger, garlic and lemon; curries bubbling away all day in mud pots; rice being wrapped in leaves that are unique to the region to be cooked later and chutneys being ground in a kingsize mortar and pestle – smoking, curing meat and even pickling are techniques used to preserve their food.
Every house has a small kitchen garden attached to it where most of the vegetables they eat come from. At one meal we were served five different varieties of chutneys, made from jackfruit, pork, fish, tomato and bhut jhalokia, that most fiery of chillies. I was advised to use the bhut jhalokia chutney sparingly. It’s used to add a sharp flavor not spice and a little goes a long way.
One thing that I did miss during our stay was dessert. Dessert doesn’t generally feature on the Assamese menu, though the younger generation does indulge in pastries or ice cream once in a while. And throughout our stay, I don’t ever remember being served dessert at the end of dinner. Instead meals are concluded by sucking on Assamese lemons which are sweet and sour. A digestive aid, apparently.
My most memorable dish was pork stewed in broth and seasoned with flavours that were lemony with a hint of basil and chilies. Being a food blogger, I thought I knew what went into it, but with a little prodding, I was shown a bunch of herbs that had gone into the stew and I was stumped. They tasted like basil and lemongrass but looked nothing like them. Where I’d expected dishes screaming chillies but instead, I tasted food which was light, flavourful with a hint of chillies. Sticky rice was a part of every meal and was perfect with the watery broths that came with it. Chillies are eaten for their digestive benefits; jaggery is the preferred sweetener and used instead of sugar, and no processed fat is added while cooking. Vegetables make a large part of every meal and is eaten in larger portions than meat.
We spent an entire day with Rajesh’s family, who were hospitable and eager to show us everything they could in the time that we had. One member brought us a bunch of herbs to taste. One, with an intense peppermint flavour numbed our tongues to anything else for half an hour.
Now back in the city, I have tried to replicate some of the Singpho food I tasted. I may not remember all the herbs I saw and smelt and tasted. But what I am less likely to ever forget is the people I met, a simple community so close to nature, complex in their love for tea, and determined to keep the remote peace of their way of life.
4 Comments
Thank you Richa for your article appreciating Singpho food and Tea and the culture.I have no idea about the article just receantily found in the net.. Hope to see you sometime.
Very interesting article.
I must make a trip to the Singpho Eco village and see
An articulate writing style and an excellent foodie blog, Richa. Keep bloging with more vegetarian recipes, peppered with your usual interjections!
Dear Ms. Richa Gupta,
The article is informative and interesting. While it may appear authentic to newbies, but I feel, I must update certain facts, which I feel is important. Starting with the name, Margherita, which was done in 1894. It’s a long story, but in short, Margherita was named after the Italian Queen consort, Margherita Mario, by the Italian Chief Engineer, Roberto Pagnini, while the laying the narrow-gauge Railway Line from present day Dibrugarh to the then Makum, after opening the Railway Bridge over River Dihing connecting the North and South of the River, and upon the crossing the rake of Railway wagons. For the first trip the Railway wagons were manually pushed to cross the river one at a time. With its success, there was a huge celebration at Margherita Planters Club, one of the best 18-hole Golf course in India.
Secondly, “Quote” one version is that Maniram Dewan, the first Indian commercial tea planter, who was from neighboring Jorhat, brought Robert Bruce of the East India Company to Margherita, and showed him these wild tea bushes, a hardy and strong plant so unlike its delicate Chinese cousin “Unquote”, this postulation has been clearly debunked sometime in 2004-2005. The present Singpho Clan King “Bisa Nong Singpho” has been duly honored by H.E. The President of India, host of honors from various recognised Societies from Assam & other states including delegation from Myanmar of the Kachin Region, & Chin Province of China.
Traditionally, the eldest of the sons (Gam in Singpho language) of the King, is the successor to be the next King. As per their language the eldest is called Gam, and follows sequentially as, Gam, Nong, La, Tang, Du,….. so on and so forth. So, the present King is younger to the then contemporary King (Gam), after the eldest “Bisa Gam Singpho”, now the King is “Bisa Nong Singpho”. Now, going back to the 19th century, it was a Scottish Major Robert Bruce, an avid nature lover and Adventurer, was doing an adventure tracking from Dibrugarh (the eastern most place in Assam, where there was a Military attachment, of East India Company) landed up in the Village “Bisa”, a lonely hamlet of the King (as the rest of the part from Dibrugarh to Margherita was scantily populated, the industrial Revolution of the Europe had not yet happened. In the village Bisa Major Bruce met the then King “Ningrula Singpho” (mark the word La in the name, which means he occupied the throne upon death of at least two of the elder siblings, Gam & Nong). The story of chance revelation to Black tea in entire world is explained. So, I would not go into the detail. But interestingly, Major Bruce could not convince the high officials of the East India Co commercial production of the Black tea. It was his younger brother C.A. Bruce, who was Superintending, the attachment at Dibrugarh, is responsible for introducing the Black tea to the world (prior to this only Chinese and Japanese culture of using tea was there, however, it used to be Jasmine Tea, Green tea, White tea, etc. were there but not BLACK TEA. He was convinced with the idea of his elder brother Maj. R. Bruce, that commercial production and export to Europe, etc. is a viable idea. C. A. Bruce took some samples of the black tea from Ningrula Singpho, and sent them to the Botanical Laboratory of Calcutta. It was found to be of same species of the chinese counterpart, but Genus was different. Then in late forties and early fiftees, the trial commercial plantations started in present day Margherita, after clearing the jungles. The Big trees were used for making Plyboard cubic containers. One such experimental plantation was started near the military station. That’s how the name of the present-day Airport is Chabua (Cha means Tea; bua means is to plant, in Assamese). Therefore, 1850’s saw the bigger picture of Tea Plantation activities.
The story of two Singpho brothers is true,but missed one important link. The leaves of the plant so consumed were unknown to them, that’s why they called it PHALAP, (Pha means the query What/which: Lap means Plant in Singpho language). Essentially, they called the “which plant”.
Furthermore, I would like to share some other interesting facts. That after the first few shipments became huge success across Europe, etcetera but there were huge cost implications of transporting the tea from Margherita to Dibrugarh and thence, to Calcutta, using ferries in the Brahmaputra, crisscrossing Bangladesh to reach Calcutta for export. But the difficulty was transporting it from in and around Margherita to Dibrugarh Mohonamukh Ghat, as transporting it in metaled stone chipped roads in Horse carts led to fall and destruction of many Plywood boxes filled with tea. Therefore, in late 1870’s it was decided to commission a Railway track from Dibrugarh to Margherita. The Job was assigned to the Italian Chief Engineer, Roberto Pagnini, he used some 40 platiers from Europe and rest of the jobs were done by Indian Laborers. While the advance party of Lumbers for clearing the thick forest were doing their advance job, by chance found the outcrop of coal. By this time, they used to transport in coal from Bengal on their way back to this part to used it in the steamers and other machineries, thus the discovery of Coal was a defining moment for them. At that time Sadiya used to be a big commercial capital in upper Assam, thus initial intension was to link Dibrugarh to Sadiya, so the name of the project was Dibru-Sadiya Railway line. (The big and famous earthquake in 1950 changed the course of the river Brahmaputra and separated Sadiya from rest of Assam, the connection has been restored by the now famous longest River Bridge in India- The Dhola-Sadiya Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu). Thus, upon discovery of coal the course of the Dibru-Sadiya Railway Line was changed towards Makum. That’s, precisely was the reason for naming the Railway Junction and Station as Makum Junction, meaning it would a tri-junction towards then Makum (or present Margherita). Thus, to carry out all these activities a company was registered in London, namely the Assam Railway and Trading Company (or AR&TC in short hereinafter) in the year 1882, by the famous Dr. John Berry White an Army Physician & a Mining Engineer George Turner. Dr. John Berry White was a legend in now called CSR activities, since he also started the now popular Assam Medical College & Hospital in Dibrugarh, as first of such in Northeast Region, which was initially called “The John Berry White Medical school, to impart Medical studies and training, of such high standard as was in London to acquire the License, or the Licentiate Medical Practitioner, during that time MBBS was unheard of. In India, the first X-Ray machine was installed in this Medical School, within 10 years of Invention of X-Ray Machine by Rontgen.
And in the process, of laying the Railway line towards Margherita instead of the original Project the Dibru-Sadiya Railways, they discovered the Oil deposits of Digboi Oil fields in the year 1886 and the Oldest and the First Refinery in the year 1909. Digboy meant asking the Indian Laborers to Dig by synchronous chants that we use in India like Hain-Saa, Hain-Saa, Dig-boy-Dig, Dig-Boy-Dig, and thus the name DIGBOY was later changed to DIGBOY. the whole of my explanations revolves around now very in thing i.e., the circular economy or ESG. Since, all these activities are linked together, like the cleared off huge forest area produces wood for the Plywood factories and Sleepers for laying Railways owned by the same company, the AR&TC. Therefore, the use of plywood in commercially huge way also started in Margherita before being introduced to rest of India. The Iron wood (Nahar in Assamese) was used for Sleepers, which does not decompose after treatment with oil. The famous Oil dipped sawmill was established in Makum. And all plywood mills were established in Margherita to pack the tea in wooden plyboard boxes to restore the moisture and taste of the tea. The Industrial Revolution of the World saw industrial Revolution in this underdeveloped eastern most corner in India with many first thing in whole of Indian sub-continent. But, even after more than 125 years, these parts remain out of touch of mainland India.
Now that the Coal mines were started in the year 1882, the company produced tea, packed them in the huge stockpile of woods, transported them in their fully owned Goods train which used coal from own coalmines and also started commercial coal mining and the Commercial Oil Refinery for export and use in India. An important milestone was establishment of all-weather mechanized Brick Kiln, which is a kind of such second in the world, by name and make, Pit Bull fired Manchester Klin. the first was in Manchester and the second in Ledo, Margherita, Assam.
This is to let people know of such rich heritage commercial activities, which is not known to many that where did the first Black tea started. And how it was spread in other British colonies all over the world. Not a single word is plagiarized, but from the Book on AR&TC. The undersigned was the Incharge of Coal Heritage Park & Museum during construction as well as after that for about 10 years.
NB: Busting Popular myths:
1. I have heard from many people that the Darjeeling Tea is the best, who do not know that Assam alone produces more than 60 percent of Black tea, and that the ideal climate is in this part of the world, where, the topography is undulated, (does not allow the water to percolate), with an average rainfall of 3000, and rains in night but sunny during the day. The highest price of tea is Moonlit tea, when only the three young petals of leaves are plucked in a moonlight and never sundried and processed meticulously during moonlight days, fetches something around Rs.70 lakhs per Kg, is produced in and around the Climate of Margherita. Such moonlit tea cannot be produced in the climate of Darjeeling, be it the Dooars, or Makaibari T. E. The fact is that the Tourist flow to Dooars and Darjeeling is many times more than a place like Margherita.
Assam tea is famous for its Black Tea Liquor which cannot be replicated in any part of the world.
2. The Tea bags not only contains the worst and cheapest type of tea, but also huge chunk sof plastic microfibers which are released when dipped in the piping hot water, even if it is served in 5-star Hotels.
3. Various types of tea are procured by participating in the Auctions in Tea Auction Centers in batches as per the respective Tea Estates. Some of the typical tea jargons are, based on the types of tea, which when mixed with milk cream, as marked by Tea tasters based on the color, size of the tea powder and taste like BP (Brown Pekoe), BOP (Brown Orange Pekoe), BOPSM (BOP small), etc. And there are other types based on the type of production like CTC (Crush, tear, curl) of Orthodox (as in cricket, unconventional, where conventional CTC is not done), Organic, etcetera. Then these are mixed in various ratios to be sold in retail. Tea is not allowed to be sold by the Tea Estates. [Please note that the use of cream of milk was added by the British High society and is not an original Indian palate.]
4. One of the Largest and Oldest Tea factory and tea estate of Tata Group is roughly 6 kms from Margherita. It has many records in terms of production of Black tea Liquor in the world by a factory to the tune of 60 lakhs Kgs. The Powai in Mumbai is named on this Tea Estate and factory. One more, organic tea of Tata Groups is Hatikuli Tea. These two are very popular across the world in the name of the respective Tea Estate.