Chhurpi is the cheese this whole zone runs on, and it comes in two forms that behave nothing alike. Milk is boiled, split into curd and whey, then squeezed and either eaten soft or pressed and dried until it becomes the hard sort, one of the hardest cheeses in the world, sold in strands in Himalayan markets and gnawed for an hour at a time. The achar uses the soft one, cut into cubes and turned through mustard oil, tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and a great deal of chilli, and it sits beside a plate of rice from Sikkim across to Bhutan, Tibet, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Sikkim makes it with dalle khursani, the round scarlet chilli that carries a geographical indication tag and is among the hottest grown anywhere, and pairing fermented dalle with soft chhurpi is a combination the state treats as its own.
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g soft chhurpi (or paneer, cut into 1cm cubes)
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 2 medium tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 5 garlic cloves (minced)
- 3 cm ginger (minced)
- 4 dalle khursani or 2 scotch bonnets (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- juice of 1 lemon
- a handful of coriander (chopped)
METHOD
- Heat the mustard oil in a pan until it smokes, then take it off the heat for a moment to settle.
- Return to a medium heat and add the fenugreek seeds. They should darken within 15 seconds.
- Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 minutes until soft and just colouring.
- Stir in the turmeric and chilli powder, then add the tomatoes and the salt. Cook for 5 minutes, pressing the tomato down until it breaks into a thick paste.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chopped chillies.
- Put the chhurpi cubes in a bowl and pour the warm mixture over them. Turn gently so every cube is coated without breaking.
- Add the lemon juice and the coriander, taste for salt, and serve at room temperature beside rice.