The signature Khasi dish. Rice cooked in pork fat and blood, sometimes with liver, always spiced with bay leaf, ginger, and turmeric. Comes in pork, chicken, and fish versions. The pork version is the real one.

What about dohkhlieh?

Minced pork salad with onions, ginger, green chilli, and a generous hit of lime. Cold, sharp, punchy. Usually eaten as a side.

What about dohneiiong?

Pork with black sesame paste. Rich, creamy, nutty. Often the most popular non-thali dish ordered in Khasi restaurants.

What about tungrymbai?

Fermented soybean paste cooked with pork. Strong smell, strong flavour. Divisive. If you like umami, you will love it.

Blood sausage, essentially. Rice and pork blood stuffed into a casing, steamed, sliced, and pan-fried. Delicious if you can get past the idea.

Steamed rice cake made from rice flour and a dash of salt. Slightly spongy, eaten with pork curry or jaggery. The Khasi answer to idli.

Sweet fried rice-flour cake, jaggery-sweet, crisp outside, soft inside. Perfect with tea.

Local rice beer. Cloudy, slightly sour, served warm or cold. An acquired taste. Usually offered in villages.

What about sohiong juice?

Cherry-like fruit native to Meghalaya. Deep purple juice, tart, often mixed with sugar and lemon.

What about market food to try?

Iewduh (Bara Bazaar) is where locals actually shop and eat. The jadoh stalls at the back of the market open by 10 am and close by 3 pm. Cheap, real, fast.

What about trattoria?

Police Bazaar, upstairs. The tourist-friendly intro to Khasi food. Good jadoh thali, decent ambience.

What about tripura castle?

Fine-dining take on Khasi cuisine. Quiet, pricier, solid dohneiiong.

What about dylan's cafe?

Not pure Khasi, but does a proper Khasi-inflected weekend menu sometimes.

What about jadoh stall, iewduh?

The no-frills option. Best value. Morning to afternoon.

What about home-cooked at a homestay?

Ask your host to cook a jadoh meal. Most will happily do it with 24 hours' notice. This is the best version you'll eat.

What about orange roots?

The only real Khasi-meets-cafe option in town. Dohneiiong, decent coffee, okay ambience.

What about homestay dinners?

Cherrapunji's homestays are actually better for food than most restaurants. Ask for a Khasi dinner when you book.

What about nongriat (double decker area)?

Dal-chawal plus one pork curry plus greens. Simple, fresh, eaten by lantern at 7 pm.

What about mawlynnong?

Expect a traditional Khasi meal: rice, pork curry, dohkhlieh, greens. Breakfast is putharo or parathas.

What about shnongpdeng (dawki area)?

Camp-style meals, usually basic Khasi dishes plus river fish on request.

What about vegetarian options?

Khasi cuisine is meat-heavy. Vegetarians can still eat well:

What about food tips?

1. Eat at the homestay at least twice. That's where the real cooking is. 2. Iewduh market lunch is the fastest way to taste real Khasi food. 3. Most restaurants close by 9 pm. Dinner plans later are risky. 4. Ask before ordering "kwai." Betel nut culture runs deep here. Try once, but it stains teeth. 5. Skip the "multi-cuisine" restaurants in Police Bazaar. They do everything, master nothing.

What about where to stay for a food-first trip?

Stay in Laitumkhrah in Shillong. Easy walks to ML05, Dylan's, The Hitching Post, and Cafe Shillong Heritage. Book through Fursat for homestays where the host cooks for you.

What about for property owners?

If you own a homestay in any of the destinations covered above, Fursat lists you on Airbnb, Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Agoda, Expedia, and 60+ other booking platforms with one signup. Free channel manager, calendar synced, you earn the price you set.