Dining in Dibrugarh: What is sauce for the scholar?

PhD scholars mostly live on campus in India and, though they are rarely saucy, as Indians, they love sauces - or gravies or curries. We all tend to name the liquid part of dishes differently. But what about Dibrugarh?   

We were at Dibrugarh University for a fortnight in February 2020 but, as it was for an intensive workshop, we remained on campus mostly with one meal off-campus. I did not take photos as meals were times of friendly bonding but the food served was healthy, nutritious and lovingly prepared. The fare was specific to the region. As you can see, in the picture below, the meals had two 'sauces': an egg curry and a dal.

We had banana flower with chicken and bamboo shoot dishes which were new to me though I've heard of such things. More familiar to me were the mashed potato and brinjal fry. 

The latter two are easy enough to make. For aloo pitika, boil, peel and mash potatoes. Season and add finely diced onion and green chili and coriander leaves. I think a dash of lime juice is also added but certainly there's some lovely raw mustard oil.

The begun bhaja is like a brinjal pakora. The round slices are crisp and go well with dal and rice.

  

On the day we went out to eat, we had an even bigger feast.

The boiled pork was exquisitely flavoursome and a dish that one could very well eat without rice or rotis for it had potatoes and a lot of other veggies as well.

That brief introduction to Assamese cuisine left me craving for more and I do hope I'll get to visit that side of India again when things settle down.