Singju

Singju

A Typical Manipuri Cuisine, Singju. Yongchaak Singju type is shown here.
Place of origin	India
Region or state	Manipur
Variations	seasonal vegetables

Singju (pronounce as sing-zoo) is a typical Manipur salad-type dish. Its origin takes from the Meitei but well eaten by the sibling communities of the state and in some neighbouring states of Northeast India. Singju has been the all-time favourite side dish for meals (other being eromba) and as afternoon or evening snacks too. Meanwhile, eromba should not be confused with singju. Eromba is usually not eaten as snacks while singju is.

Singju has many varieties as much as eromba, because of its seasonal vegetables which are the main ingredients of it. Like eromba, singju is of two types, Veg and Non-veg. The veg type are mainly served at ritual occasions while the non-veg type are eaten at homes.

Manipur, being one of the oldest ancient independent kingdoms of East/Southeast/Central Asia, Siberia, Micronesia and Polynesia before being part of India, has lots of varieties of customs and traditions. The word "Singju" comes from the rapid pronunciation of "Manaa-Masing" and "Suba". "Manaa-Masing" means green vegetables and "Suba" means combining. Therefore, in rapid pronunciation the word "Manaa-Masing" drops to "Sing" and the word "Suba" transform to "Ju" for the better pronouncement. As a result, the word, "Singju" was born.

Singju being a versetile cuisine i.e. both veg and non veg. There are two different ways to prepare singju cuisine.

A veggie singju is mainly served in ritual feasts of the Meitei where they observe at their house courtyard or shrines' yard or community complexes. It can be eaten at homes too but usually people prefer the non veg one at homes.

In this type, the main ingredients are perilla seeds (thoiding in Meitei), chanaa powder, salt, chillies and green leafy vegetables (compatible vegetables' list are listed below and its season).