Arunachali red rice porridge (Thupka)

Thupka is a rice porridge from Arunachal Pradesh. It is not to be confused with the Tibetian noodle soup Thupka

Red rice is one of the magic ingredients of Arunachal's deep valleys. It is a special variety of rice that gets its colour red from its anthocyanin content. Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments responsible for red, purple, and blue. This rice is unhulled or partially hulled and has a red husk, unlike the more common brown rice. Nutty in flavour, red rice has high nutritional values compared to polished rice varieties.

We also discovered and loved the flavour of yak products, cheese, and ghee. The cheese is thick and very flavourful, and frankly, not for everyone, though I loved it in small amounts. The cheese, called churpi, on the other hand, is delicious. It comes in three varieties: fresh, consumed within a day or two; quick aged, as a soft crumble that has been aged for a week; and dry-aged, which is a hard cheese very hard and aged for a month or more. The fresh cheese is mild and delicious, and the aged cheese starts fermenting with natural yeasts and bacteria and begins to take on a mild funk. The aged cheese is very hard and rancid. This is the version that is stored away for the cold months when it is reconstituted and used mainly in cooking.

This is a surprisingly wonderful dish. Warm and subtle, the flavours come together beautifully. The red rice adds a sweet, creamy nuttiness, the ginger a hint of spice and the churpi perfect balance of funk. We slurped down this porridge as part of the welcome platter upon arriving at the luxury Timilo Boutique.

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup red rice

1 tablespoon ginger, grated or finely minced

Salt, to taste

1 tablespoon yak ghee

6 cups water

2 tablespoons young yak cheese (Churpi), crumbled

Wash the red rice well and add to a bowl with ginger, salt, yak ghee and water. bring to a boil and simmer for 60-70 minutes until the rice is well cooked and begining to break down. The extended cooking time helps the rice to release its starch and give the dish its creamy consistency.

Add the churpi and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve warm.