GI Application No. 803
GI Applicant : Namsai Organic Spices and Agricultural Producer Company Limited
‘Khamti Lahi’ rice is a strongly scented sticky rice variety grown by traditional Khampti tribal farmers in Namsai region.
The Tai Khamti tribes from the eastern part of the state do not use sticky rice every day but reserve it for religious or special occasions like marriages. And they tell you the best time to have sticky rice is immediately after harvest when it’s freshly out of the granary. Khaw-laam is one popular item which is prepared with rice first soaked in water for the whole night. The next day it is kept inside a special hollow bamboo. There is a special bamboo found only in the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh and it has thick membrane. The bamboo is roasted over a fire till it is partially burned. Once it is done, carefully the bamboo is scrapped and eaten.