Hawai jaang (fermented soybean) mashed with boiled seasonal vegetables and flavoured with maroi and mustard oil — the soybean version of eromba unique to Manipuri cooking.
Ingredients
3 tbsp hawai jaang (Manipuri fermented soybean — semi-dry whole fermented soybeans; available at Northeast Indian stores; substitute with Japanese natto or Korean doenjang)
2 medium potatoes — boiled soft
1 cup flat beans or colocasia — boiled tender
3 fresh green chillies — roasted over flame
1 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp maroi nakuppi (Manipuri spring onion herb) or regular spring onion — finely chopped
Salt to taste only if needed
Method
Roast green chillies directly over a gas flame until blistered. Cool and chop roughly.
Boil potatoes and beans separately until completely soft.
Drain. Mash coarsely — keeping texture, not smooth.
Add the hawai jaang (fermented soybean) to the mashed vegetables.
Mix thoroughly — the soybean provides the umami seasoning.
Add the roasted chopped green chillies.
Add mustard oil. Mix well.
Taste before adding salt — hawai jaang is quite salty.