One day on the mountain of dead souls
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh, Chittagong is the capital of trade, Sylhet is the spiritual capital, Cox’s Bazar is the capital of tourism, you name it! Where is the capital of Garo tribes? Well, giving a hint — near this foot of the Garo tribe is the Garo hill range of Meghalaya, that is the Kailas hill, on the top of the Kailas hill or where the souls of the Garo tribe take refuge after death. Give one more hint? I am talking from the border town in the very north of Netrakona, about 178 km from Dhaka. Now tell me, where am I? Yes welcome to Garo capital Durgapur. Why did you come here? In search of a different taste. Of course, the taste is of food, but I am looking for two types of food, in one food and in another food, the flavor will be sweet. Killing two birds with one stone. There are beautiful villages here and there between the beauty of Kailas Hills and the beauty of nature. The name of that village is Dahapara (village). Daha Para (village) means covered with hills. The foot of the mountain is so close that from a distance it seems that Zeno is covered by the mountain. The hill people live there, their local name is (Achikmandi) Me and Daha are going to Sujana Didi’s house. There might be some interesting event waiting for us there. The Garo tribes called Achikmandi live either in the hills or under the hills, they were once known as Garo Pahari, so they came to be known as Garo. Achikmandi’s neighborhood was won by crossing Utrai, Banbadar. From China’s mountain range, first Tibet, then Bhutan, then Cooch Behar, Assam, Rangpur, and the Garo hills of Meghalaya and finally Durgapur. Do you know how long this journey of the Garos from China to Durgapur? 3–5 thousand years. A cuisine so ancient must be rich and interesting. That’s why I came to our Shuchana Didi’s house.
Now the ingredients and cooking:
Today’s cooking name is brenga, this brenga is cooked with bamboo. Bamboo can be found nearby. The Garos cannot live without this bamboo from Bon Pahar. Among their most widely used materials, bamboo plays a prominent role. Here is the link. If anyone need translation on this please write me so I’ll translate it in detail.
