From Nagalandto Manchester.
fonëì ( foh-nay ) which means Flavours of Northeast India, began with a memory. Growing up with Naga and Garo heritage, fermented meat pickle wasn't a delicacy, it was just food. The kind your family made every season. The kind that made every meal feel like home.
The Naga tradition
Across the hills of Nagaland, fermenting meat is not a technique, it is a way of life. Passed down through generations in Naga households, this tradition of preserving and deepening flavour through fermentation is as old as the communities themselves. Simple in method. Extraordinary in result.
fonëì is built on that heritage. Our process is rooted in the Naga household tradition — the way families have always made it, adapted to a modern, food-safe kitchen in Manchester, without losing what makes it special.
This is not fusion. This is not reinterpretation. This is Naga food, made with care and scientific rigour, for people who deserve to taste it.
01
Heritage
Rooted in Naga household fermentation tradition. Passed down through generations. Authentic method. No shortcuts.
02
Science
Made by a microbiologist with two MSc degrees. Every batch monitored. Every jar safe, traceable, consistent.
03
Community
Built for the Northeast Indian diaspora and for anyone curious enough to pull a jar off the shelf.
Meet the Founder
Priyanka Sangma
Founder · Microbiologist · Naga and Garo heritage
Hello, I'm Priyanka.
I come from two of the most distinct cultures in Northeast India and I carry both with me everywhere I go.
On my father's side, I am Naga. A people known for one thing above all else: fearlessness. Naga warriors were never conquered, never assimilated. That spirit of the refusal to back down, the pride in where you come from, is not history to me. It is how I move through the world.
On my mother's side, I am Garo. One of the rare matrilineal societies remaining in the world. In Garo culture, women lead. They inherit. They decide. The family name passes through the mother, which is why I carry Sangma, my mother's name, not my father's. I grew up knowing that being a woman was not a limitation. It was the foundation.
I carry both. And fonëì was built from that combination.
I moved to Manchester to study Medical Microbiology at the University of Manchester. This city gave me my MSc and a dissertation that I did not know at the time would become the scientific foundation of everything fonëì is built on. The fermented foods of Northeast India are not just a culinary tradition. At a scientific level, they are extraordinary. The more I looked, the more I found.
fonëì was born from missing home, and from refusing to let that food remain invisible. It is not just a pickle. It is a declaration that Northeast Indian food deserves to stand proudly in the mainstream. Not explained away. Not diluted. Authentic. Unapologetic. Exactly as it has always been.
Every jar is made by hand. Small batch. Traditional Naga method. By someone building something she intends to last.
The science behind fonëì goes deeper than the label. That work is underway, and it is not ready to be spoken about yet.
But it will matter. Watch this space — Behind the Jar.
- MSc Medical Microbiology — University of Manchester
- Highfield Level 2 Food Safety · FSA Allergy & Intolerance Certified
- Published: World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, 2021