I always have a hard time expalining whatn it is that distinguishes Assamese cuisine from the typical North Indian and Bengali affair. This article explains it better than anything else. My mom though was a big cooking enthust and thanks to her we sampled everything from Idli-to-”illish maach” while growing up. That and the internet is why my own cooking is a fusion of tastes which I can never claim belongs to any one particular region!