Tripura’s gudok: old recipe, new takes

“Many of our customers will not eat at our hotel if we do not serve gudok,” says Chandan Chakma. For the last eight years, 37-year-old Chandan and his wife Shamaru, 36, have been serving gudok at their hotel. A dish made from fermented fish and vegetables, gudok is traditional to the Chakma community here in Unakoti district of Tripura.

The couple run the Jessica Hotel in their village Shantinagar and have been married for 20 years now. They have two daughters, Jessica and Chevonne who study in Class 12 and Class 8 respectively.

“Gudok is central to our identity,” says Chandan. The Chakma community is listed as a Scheduled Tribe in Tripura with a population of around 80,000 as per the latest census.

The couple says gudok is a favourite all year round at their hotel. A three-room construction, Jessica Hotel can serve 40 people at a time and offers thalis (platters) priced between Rs. 100 and Rs. 160. The traditional gudok is a popular dish in these thalis.

“People often ask us to sell gudok separately so that they can take it home,” says Chandan, who also cooks it at his own home. “It is loved by people from all communities that live here,” he says, which includes tribes like Halam, Mog, Debbarma, and the Bengali-speaking residents of Shantinagar many of whom have migrated decades ago from Bangladesh.

The much-loved gudok is made with vegetables and fermented fish. The local name for the fermented fish is berma or shidol, and species like punti (Puntius Sophore) and phayssa (Septipinna phasa) are used for it. “We use phayssa shidol because it has a distinct pungent flavour,” says Chandan. He buys shidol from the local market at Rs. 500 for a kilogram.

To make shidol, fresh fish is dried in the sun for about two months. The fish is then tightly stuffed in an earthen pot and a fine paste of previously dried fish is added to the mix. The pot is covered with a thin sheet of plastic and sealed with wet clay. The fish is left to ferment under the ground for 2 to 12 weeks depending on temperature, humidity and the species of fish used.

While Chandan handles the business and keeps track of expenses at the hotel, Shamaru does most of the cooking. She works daily for 6-7 hours on the large mud stoves fueled by firewood in the kitchen, a room made of bamboo with a tin roof. Jalata Chakma, Shamaru's cousin, visits them occasionally and helps with the chores.

Shamaru first washes the vegetables and shidol thoroughly to get rid of any dirt. “We use whichever vegetables are fresh and available,” she says, adding that they usually use jhinga (ridged gourd), begun (brinjal), thud (banana flower), teasle gourd, ramaish (long beans) and potato. “We sometimes add taro leaves, taro flowers and fragrant sabarang leaves [basil].”

Shidol is first boiled in a large vessel with water, green chilies, turmeric powder and salt. When the mix comes to a simmer, Shamaru adds the chopped vegetables. “You need to make sure that the water just about covers the ingredients – no more, no less,” she says. The pot simmers for another 35-40 minutes.

“We do not use even a drop of oil in this preparation,” Chandan says emphatically as he joins in for the final step of mashing the cooked mix of vegetables and fish with a cylindrical wooden stick. Once mashed, gudok is garnished with thinly sliced onions and served.

“Everyone makes gudok differently. Many use bamboo shoots and my relatives in Mizoram even add raw haldi [turmeric] to the mix,” he says. “Many of our Bengali-speaking customers tell us that they make gudok at home, but I don’t think it would taste as good,” Chandan adds lightheartedly.

"But I love the daal that Bengalis make. You can smell the fragrance of the tadka they add from far away. Our daal is not as good as theirs,” Chandan says.

Although gudok is a dish traditional to the tribes of Tripura, it is also popular among the Bengali-speaking households. “I first tried gudok nearly 30 years ago. I even cook it occasionally. My daughter absolutely adores the dish,” says 62-year-old Dipu Deb, a retired government employee who lives in Dharmanagar city about 25 kilometres from Shantinagar. “I sometimes add sliced jackfruit seeds or banana flowers to the preparation,” she says, highlighting how the dish has been adapted across households and among different communities.

“Earlier we only used banana flowers or kochu in gudok. Now we add potatoes, korola [bitter gourd], ramaish [long beans], jhinga [ridge gourd],” says Chandan.

“Earlier gudok used to be made in bamboo stems which were cooked over open fire. This variety was called wasung gudok. Most of that tradition is lost now,” says Chandan, adding that he has not had this preparation of gudok for almost a year now. “The chungas [hollow bamboo stems] have become expensive. Until a few years ago it used to be sold at five rupees for a piece. Now each piece is sold for 20 rupees.”

With time, many traditional recipes have declined in popularity. “Even biroin chal [small-grain sticky rice] used to be prepared in chungas. We used to have it when we were children,” says Chandan. “Now no one makes the dish the traditional way.”

This story is supported by a fellowship from Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation (MMF).