Visit Oya’s Umami, a new restaurant in Goa that serves authentic Naga food

“Food, for all of us, is a memory,” says Ati Aier with a smile, as I chew into a fluffy, cloud-like mushroom bao. “For me, it was my grandmother’s amrusu, a hearty rice gruel with bamboo shoot juice, laced with the sharpness of chillies.”

Ati at one among her pop-ups
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We are in Miramar at Ati’s newly opened restaurant, Oya’s Umami. Ati has been internet hosting supper golf equipment at her residence for a few years now, in addition to popups at a number of occasions, the place her makes an attempt to simplify Naga flavours for the uninitiated haven’t gone unnoticed. Along along with her husband Abhijit, Ati runs Goa Meat Company, which provides smoked meats, jerkies, spicy pickled liver and chillies to cooks and notable eating places in Goa, together with Grumps, Elephant and Co., Grind Bar, Larder & Folk and Goodfellas. The couple’s yard is the place the meats are smoked. Locally sourced coconut wooden, fibre, coir and husk are used, lending a distinctive, self-contained, sustainable angle to the enterprise.

Back to the beginning

Ati belongs to Nagaland’s vibrant Ao tribe of Mokokchung village. Having served as a Japanese interpreter in New Delhi earlier than shifting to Goa in 2018, she claims to have gravitated in the direction of the language and tradition by way of anime and the simplicity of Japanese food, particularly the play of umami. She may instantly relate it with Naga delicacies, connecting the depth of flavours and the pleasing savoriness to components equivalent to axone, which is a fermented soybean paste.

Ati and Abhijit earlier than the opening
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In the Ao tribe, Oya refers to a doting elder sister, a image of affection and heat, a function that Ati assumed when she opened the doorways of her residence in 2021 to diners in search of hearty Naga impressed meals. Thus, the title Oya’s Umami.

Inside Oya’s Umami
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Food ahead

Oya’s Umami is now open with 28 covers. The interiors are easy and impressed by a Japanese ramen store. There is a little al fresco space surrounded by greenery from potted vegetation. The menu is Naga-inspired Asian road food with appetisers and small plates like momos, baos, and baked hen wings.

Citrus Salad with smoked hen
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I attempted the citrus salad with slices of smoked hen, a completely zesty opening to a meal. The toasty meat provides an sudden dimension to the style. Next, the chilly home made egg noodles with black sesame paste, which lends a nutty creaminess to the dish, served with shredded hen on prime. It is simple to get misplaced in this scrumptious mound of silky strands, till you’re jolted by the fierce sharpness of mountain pepper punctuating the dish; unusually its scent is kind of like kaffir lime. The baos are delicate as clouds. I had the mushroom bao, with chewy, meaty shiitake and the boldness of the three-chilli sauce with fowl’s eye chilli, ghost pepper and pink bell peppers.

Cold Noodles
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“Your mushroom bao has anishi in it. Did you know?” says Ati. I do know that fermentation is a frequent observe in Naga delicacies and had earlier requested her about anishi, produced from taro leaves; usually smoked or dried and used with pork. 

So, does she get the leaves in Goa? “Yes, we get it in plenty during monsoons. But it’s a slightly different variant,” she says, elaborating how the leaves are gathered, rolled, and left above the fireside to naturally ferment in the mild warmth. “We pound it to a paste, make patties and store away to use later. It can be cooked with anything like meats or vegetables and it also acts as a tenderiser. At Oya’s, we even make a powder to sprinkle on top of dishes like togorashi used in Japanese cuisine.”

Main level

The pièce de resistance on the menu, although, is the Naga thali, served for lunch and obtainable in two variants; pork bamboo shoot and hen black sesame. Priced at ₹750, the thali is a smorgasbord of flavours and is as shut because it involves the precise food of Ati’s tribe. “You see, food in Nagaland is for sustenance. Hence, thalis are the kind of meals one would get to enjoy there. Other dishes on our menu are simply our interpretations, and have become the carrier for the flavours,” explains Ati as we begin to demolish the fastidiously plated thali.

Pork Naga Thali 2
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Oya’s will quickly begin their gradual espresso with single-estate espresso beans sourced from Nagaland. They are additionally serving a ardour fruit picante with ghost pepper, and a hibiscus and Naga sumac drink, which compliments the food. The lengthy Goan monsoon will probably be a time to get pleasure from their soupy noodles and ramens, which is able to quickly characteristic on the menu.

“Years ago, I watched the movie Axone, where there was a certain ‘othering’, when some Naga students in Delhi wanted to cook a pungent-smelling dish with this fermented soyabean paste,” she says, including, “It nudged me to think deeply about how we perceive food, especially the embracing or rebuffing of it. And, here I was Ati of Oya’s Umami, having demystified the audacious Naga flavours, serving them with warmth, until one had no option but to fall in love.”

Oya’s Umami, positioned in Risara House, Miramar, Panaji, Goa, is open from 7pm to 11pm on all days besides Tuesdays, and a meal for 2 could value almost ₹1,200.