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 bite 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 of her pop-ups
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We are in Miramar at Ati’s newly opened restaurant, Oya’s Umami. Ati has been hosting supper clubs at her home for a few years now, as well as popups at several events, where her attempts to simplify Naga flavours for the uninitiated have not gone unnoticed. Along with her husband Abhijit, Ati runs Goa Meat Company, which supplies smoked meats, jerkies, spicy pickled liver and chillies to chefs and notable restaurants in Goa, including Grumps, Elephant and Co., Grind Bar, Larder & Folk and Goodfellas. The couple’s backyard is where the meats are smoked. Locally sourced coconut wood, fibre, coir and husk are used, lending a unique, self-contained, sustainable angle to the enterprise.

Back to the start

Ati belongs to Nagaland’s vibrant Ao tribe of Mokokchung village. Having served as a Japanese interpreter in New Delhi before moving to Goa in 2018, she claims to have gravitated towards the language and culture via anime and the simplicity of Japanese food, especially the play of umami. She could immediately relate it with Naga cuisine, connecting the depth of flavours and the pleasing savoriness to ingredients such as axone, which is a fermented soybean paste.

Ati and Abhijit before the opening
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In the Ao tribe, Oya refers to a doting elder sister, a symbol of love and warmth, a role that Ati assumed when she opened the doors of her home in 2021 to diners looking for hearty Naga inspired meals. Thus, the name Oya’s Umami.

Inside Oya’s Umami
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Food forward

Oya’s Umami is now open with 28 covers. The interiors are simple and inspired by a Japanese ramen shop. There is a little al fresco area surrounded by greenery from potted plants. The menu is Naga-inspired Asian street food with appetisers and small plates like momos, baos, and baked chicken wings.

Citrus Salad with smoked chicken
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I tried the citrus salad with slices of smoked chicken, a perfectly zesty opening to a meal. The toasty meat adds an unexpected dimension to the taste. Next, the cold homemade egg noodles with black sesame paste, which lends a nutty creaminess to the dish, served with shredded chicken on top. It is easy to get lost in this delicious mound of silky strands, until you are jolted by the fierce sharpness of mountain pepper punctuating the dish; strangely its scent is quite like kaffir lime. The baos are soft as clouds. I had the mushroom bao, with chewy, meaty shiitake and the boldness of the three-chilli sauce with bird’s eye chilli, ghost pepper and red bell peppers.

Cold Noodles
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“Your mushroom bao has anishi in it. Did you know?” says Ati. I know that fermentation is a common practice in Naga cuisine and had earlier asked her about anishi, made from taro leaves; often 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 fireplace to naturally ferment in the gentle heat. “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 point

The pièce de resistance on the menu, though, is the Naga thali, served for lunch and available in two variants; pork bamboo shoot and chicken black sesame. Priced at ₹750, the thali is a smorgasbord of flavours and is as close as it comes to the actual 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 start to demolish the carefully plated thali.

Pork Naga Thali 2
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Oya’s will soon start their slow coffee with single-estate coffee beans sourced from Nagaland. They are also serving a passion fruit picante with ghost pepper, and a hibiscus and Naga sumac drink, which compliments the food. The long Goan monsoon will be a time to enjoy their soupy noodles and ramens, which will soon feature 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, adding, “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, located in Risara House, Miramar, Panaji, Goa, is open from 7pm to 11pm on all days except Tuesdays, and a meal for two may cost nearly ₹1,200.