Kunzes Angmo : the storyteller chef of Ladakh at her sit down meal in Kochi

Chef Kunzes Angmo hosts sit down dinners that are strung together with a narrative to give guests an authentic taste of her home

“I think I still have earth under my nails.” Chef Kunzes Angmo from Leh, who hosted a food pop-up called Ladakhi Odyssey in Kochi recently, is talking about how she was foraging for leaves and vegetables from her garden until the last minute. “I carried 25 kg of ingredients on the flight.” This was after sending ingredients such as yatpa baltilang (buckwheat greens), scotse (dried garlic chives) pul (natural soda) and phabs (yeast) earlier. “50kg in all,” she laughs. The event was hosted by Guestronomy, the Kochi-based experiential hospitality group, and will be held in Kottayam on Decem,ber 2.

A researcher in food history, culture and evolution of Ladakhi food, Kunzes’ dinners are always “sit-down meals with a narrative.” The diner learns learns about the cuisine of a cold desert with no rainfall and scarce glacial water, how food is preserved to last during the long and dark winters and interesting titbits about traditional Ladakhi kitchen ovens and various aspects of the meal.

Like the fact that roasted roasted barley flour used in the soup had been ground in a runtak, a traditional water mill driven by fast moving water. The flatbread sourdough, versions of the roomali roti  — come from a strong bread-making tradition common to most of Ladakh. Rice, barley, wheat and meat preparations that form the main course became part of the diet at different points in time due to historical influences, like migration from Tibet.  Fresh greens — radish, turnip, dandelions — are foraged during the short summers and preserved. Sun-dried vegetables and meats are consumed during the biting cold winters. Though there’s no concept of a dessert, Ladakhi food uses fresh fruits such as apricots and apples from Turtuk in the west as a sweet. 

“Ladakhi food is a result of its history, its trade with Central Asia, its socio-religious-cultural exchanges with Tibet and now the influences from the sub-continent,” explains Kunzes who studied Political Science and Business Administration outside Ladakh. She set up Artisanal Alchemy two years ago and serves curated meals at Jade House and Stok Palace in Leh. Her attachment to the region’s authentic food came from her family’s attempt to keep in touch with their roots by eating “true Ladakhi food”. She recalls how they would eat Skyu, a rustic thumbprint pasta with root vegetables and tomato tempering in Delhi’s sweltering summer.

When Kunzes returned to Leh, after studying in Dalhousie, she became aware of the nuances of Ladakhi food culture. “The climate has shaped our architecture and food habits,” she says. In traditional architecture, she points out, every Ladakhi home had passive solar heating. Made with mud bricks, Poplar beams and willow twigs, the traditional stove is the heart of the home. Kunzes remembers the family gathering around the oven and doing homework in its warmth. A south-facing room of glass, called Shelkang, was another family space that received maximum sunlight.

We begin the meal with a shot made of pureed seabuckthorn berries and Roku gin. As the breads and soups arrive, Kunzes continues her narrative. “An exhaust was added to the oven in the1880s and the German missionaries introduced a wrought-iron stove.” The Germans married locally and introduced vegetables such as potatoes, carrot (sarg turman) and kidney beans.

For the soup, the diners have to choose between Sugu-sgnamthuk (Goat Trotter’s broth) or Zathuk, a vegetarian version made with foraged wild stinging nettle. Thangnyer, made with Yellow Himalayan chilli and Cilantro, makes a perfect dip for the Khambir or sourdough and the Tsong Thalsshrak, an onion biscuit bread.