Authentic Naga Ingredients From Our Homeland
Real Naga flavours start with the right ingredients. We source everything directly from small-scale farmers in Nagaland, bringing the true, uncompromised taste of our home to your table in Mumbai.
A beautiful flat lay of the ingredients that define Naga cuisine. You can see Zanthoxylum seeds, sticky corn, sumac, local ginger and garlic, Naga lemons, and dried King Chillies.
A woman in Nagaland carries a heavy basket of freshly harvested greens on her back. This is the hard work and dedication that brings the freshest ingredients from the hills to your plate.
These are Anishi patties, a delicacy of the Ao Naga tribe. Made from sun-dried or smoked Colocasia leaves, they form the base of a unique and earthy black curry.
A handful of dried Sumac berries. We grind these into a powder to add a tangy, lemony flavor to our dishes. It's a wild ingredient that also has traditional medicinal uses.
A basket of fresh ingredients ready for cooking. It includes winged beans, taro, Raja Mircha chillies, kidney beans, bitter eggplant, and fresh mustard greens.
A basket overflowing with a fresh harvest from Nagaland. It contains smoked pork, wild greens, and local fruits, ready to be used in our kitchen.
A pile of local red ginger, one of my favorite ingredients. It has a more intense and aromatic flavor than regular ginger, adding a special warmth to our curries.
Our Smoked Pork Anishi curry. The intense flavor of the smoked pork blends perfectly with the earthy, dark Anishi curry, creating a dish that is rich in both taste and tradition.
A stall at a Naga market piled high with fresh green beans, chillies, and bundles of leafy greens. The sheer variety and freshness is what makes our food so special.
A roadside stall in Nagaland selling local produce. You can see jars of fermented bamboo shoot, fresh corn, and other vegetables, showcasing the local food culture.
About From the Hills of Nagaland: Our Ingredients
Our Anishi patties are the perfect example of the patience we bring to our kitchen. These are crafted from sun-dried Colocasia leaves using a traditional technique passed down through generations of the Ao Naga tribe. It is this slow, deliberate process that gives our signature black curry its distinct, earthy depth, a texture and flavour you simply cannot replicate with mass-produced substitutes.
We do not believe in taking shortcuts with our food. When you taste our dishes, you are experiencing ingredients that have made the journey from the misty hills of Nagaland straight to our kitchen in Andheri. We maintain a direct line with our farmers, ensuring that every batch of wild herbs, bamboo shoots, and spices carries the integrity of the soil it grew in.
Why Ingredient Sourcing Matters
Authentic Naga cuisine relies on specific, often hard-to-find ingredients that define our palate.
- Raja Mircha (King Chilli): We use this sparingly but effectively to provide the essential heat and smoky depth that sets our curries apart.
- Fermented Bamboo Shoot: This provides the sour, umami base for many of our soups and meat preparations.
- Sumac (Tenga Powder): Harvested from the wild, this gives our food a balanced, tangy profile that is completely natural.
By sourcing directly, we ensure that our Smoked Pork or Axone Chicken Wings taste exactly how they would if you were sitting in a village home in Dimapur. It is about preserving our culinary heritage and honouring the farmers who keep these traditions alive. When you dine with us, you are not just having a meal, you are partaking in a story that began thousands of miles away.
Naga Belly
Aren and I started Naga Belly in our Andheri kitchen back in 2020 because we missed the food we grew up with. We still keep that same humble spirit today, cooking the recipes our grandmothers taught us using ingredients we fly in directly from Nagaland.
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