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Agriculture
In recent years the paddy fields has been transformed to large cardamom
cultivation areas. Cardamom is a pungent, aromatic herb. Its seeds
are usually grounded into powder and used as a spice. Three decades
ago, the villagers used to cultivate a wide variety of crops such
as rice, maize, pea, cereals and green vegetables but most of these
crops have been replaced by cardamom because of its high value and
low manpower.
Nevertheless, the villagers still cultivate maize,
which is the one of the major crops, finger millet, buckwheat and
a variety of vegetables. These crops are cultivated in low land
agricultural fields. In higher areas (Tsoka), potato is the major
agricultural product, followed by cabbage, bajra (millet), along
with a variety of other vegetables such as beet, radish, carrot
and a number of green vegetables. Potatoes are usually prepared
for farming in December, sowed in January and finally harvested
in July.
 Livestock
Income of the people mostly comes from agriculture, horticulture,
tourism and animal husbandry. Livestock rearing is mainly done to
produce milk, meat, manure and cheese and used as pack animals.
Generally, almost all the families living in the
villages possess some livestock. They rear cows, goats, sheep, pigs
and fowls for their subsistence livelihood. Yaks, dzos and horses
are also reared as pack animals. Livestock rearing seems to be dependent
on farm size, family size and income.
Food Habits
The staple food is Dal, Bhaat and Sabji with an occasional helping
of beef, pork, chicken, mutton and fish. Local delicacies include
Stinging Netle soup (Sisnoo ko Jhol), Fiddlehead Fern (Ningro) with
local cheese (Churpi), Fermented Mustard Leaf soup (Gundruk ko Jhol),
Mushroom (Chaou), corn Porridge (Dhendo), Roasted Barley Porridge
(Tchampa) taken with Sikkimese Tea (solja). Chapattis are made from
Millet (Kodo), Corn, Buckwheat (Phafer) and What.
Momo along with soup is a very popular Sikkimese
delicacy, prepared by stuffing minceme4eat, vegetable or cheese
in flour dough and then molding them in the form of dumplings. These
are then steamed for about half an hour in a htree0tired utensil
that has bone or tomato soup in the lowest compartment. Noodle with
soup (Thupka) is readily available in most of the local restaurants.
Rice paste is fried in oil to prepare Sael Roti which is taken with
potato curry.
Sikkimese tea (solja) or salt butter tea
is made from tea leaves, butter and milk. Traditional warm beer
(chang or tumba) is made by fermenting millet, using yeast (morcha)
and is sipped from a bamboo or wooden container using a bamboo pipe.
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