Traditional food processing techniques of the Mizo people of Northeast India

Abstract

Documentation is the basic method of preserving indigenous traditional knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is passed down through generations and is in reality a necessary means of understand-ing many aspects of science. The indigenous techniques of food processing by the Mizo residing in a landlocked state - Mizoram, in northeast India has not been recorded systematically. This article describes some of the most familiar techniques of Mizo traditional food processing techniques; however, minor differences have been observed among different parts within the state. It was amazing to observe that the Mizos utilize the available resources such as fire or sun for food pres-ervation and developed their own way of innovative scientific methods for food processing. It has been recommended that a study on the nutritive values of the Mizo traditionally processed foods would be very significant to see the impact of such processing on the health of the Mizo commu-nity.