Today we have an authentic Ao Naga dish cooked over a fireplace in a Naga kitchen. It’s a pork dish cooked with Anishi (dried Colocasia leaves), Sichuan pepper “Michinga leaves” and napa. Made in traditional style in a clay pot, it is a flavorsome dish to be relished with a hot plate of rice and some chutney – a typical Naga meal. Read on to get the full recipe [Video included – at the bottom].

Ao Naga Dish | Pork with Anishi

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Fresh pork (cut into 1″ pieces) 
• 1 big Tomato
• 5-6 dried red chilies
• 3-4 Anishi cakes (Dried cakes made of Colocasia leaves)
• A handful of Sichuan Pepper Leaves “Michinga Leaves”
• Napa
• Clay Pot ( if you don’t have a clay pot, you can use a regular deep vessel and cook over gas)

Ingredients (Clockwise from Left): Sichuan pepper leaves, Tomato, Dried Red Chillies, Napa, and Anishi cakes

This Ao Naga Pork Dish is Prepared in a Clay Pot

Directions to Prepare the Pork:

• Cut the pork into 1” chunks and dry fry in a deep kadai until the fat starts coming out of the meat
• Cook on low flame for about 20-30 mins until the pork is half-cooked
• Turn off the gas, and keep the pork aside

Fried Pork to make “Pork with Anishi” dish

Directions to Cook:

• Boil some water in the clay pot (3-4 cups)
• Add the pre-cooked pork and all the other ingredients into the pot – except the Sichuan pepper leaves and the napa.
• Cover the pot with a lid and cook until the (spice) ingredients are cooked and soft.
• Now take out all the ingredients except the meat, and mash and mix them thoroughly, and put them back into the pot. Add more water if needed.
• Cook till it starts boiling again, and then add the plucked (and separated) Sichuan pepper leaves into the pot and mix with a spoon.
• Now crush the napa and add them as well – as a final tastemaker.
• Cover the lid and cook for 2-3 mins.
• Anishi Pork is now ready to eat! Serve hot with a plate of rice, and boiled vegetables and chutney on the side.

Ao Naga Dish “Anishi Pork” is ready to be served!

Watch the cooking process on Roots and Leisure YouTube Channel