Kangshoiকাংশোই
Video: TheZmiychannel (YouTube)
Kangshoi is the everyday soul of Manipuri cooking — a clear, lightly seasoned vegetable stew that lets fresh seasonal greens speak for themselves. Built on a restrained base of water, dried fish or ngari for umami depth (or kept fully vegan with just oil), it uses almost no spices, relying instead on ginger, onion, and the grassy brightness of local leaves. Found in nearly every Meitei household at lunch and dinner, it is the kind of food that restores rather than excites, honest and nourishing in equal measure.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
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Ingredients
- ▪water or light vegetable stock4 cups
- ▪kangkong (water spinach) or fresh mustard greens — kanghou in Meitei200 g
- ▪green banana, peeled and sliced into rounds1 medium
- ▪potato, peeled and cut into thick wedges1 medium
- ▪fresh flat beans or yardlong beans, cut into 3 cm pieces80 g
- ▪yellow onion, sliced1 medium
- ▪fresh ginger, bruised3 cm piece
- ▪green chillies, slit2
- For the tempering
- ▪mustard oil1 tbsp
- ▪dried fermented fish (ngari) or small dried shrimp, optional2-3 pieces
- ▪saltto taste
- Ngari (fermented Manipuri fish) is rarely available outside Manipur or specialist South Asian grocers in the UK and US — omit it for a vegan version, or substitute 1 tsp of fish sauce for comparable depth. For a fully vegan stew, a small piece of dried kombu added at the boiling stage gives gentle umami without changing the flavour profile.
- Kangkong (water spinach) is sold as morning glory or ong choy in most East and Southeast Asian supermarkets globally. Mustard greens (available at Indian, Chinese, and Caribbean grocers) are the closest substitute for the bitter, leafy greens used in Manipur.
- Green bananas are available year-round at Caribbean, West African, and South Asian grocery stores in most diaspora cities. In a pinch, raw plantain cut into thick coins behaves identically in the pot.
Method
- 1Bring the water or stock to a boil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion, bruised ginger, and green chillies.
- 2Add the green banana pieces and potato wedges first, as they take longest. Cook uncovered for 8 minutes.
- 3Add the flat beans and continue cooking for another 4 minutes until just tender but not mushy.
- 4Add the kangkong or mustard greens last — they need only 3-4 minutes. Push them gently into the broth and let them wilt without overcooking.
- 5While the greens finish cooking, heat mustard oil in a small pan until it just begins to smoke. If using ngari or dried shrimp, lightly char them in the oil for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- 6Pour the tempered oil (and fish, if using) into the stew. Stir once, season with salt, and remove from heat.
- 7Serve immediately in deep bowls alongside steamed short-grain rice. The broth is meant to be drunk.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.