Could Hyperlocal Cuisine Cultures Become Common?

"There was no rice harvesting in our region, so, our ancestors would eat Gatka chicken curry with Jowar," says Sodem Kranthi Kiran Dora, who belongs to the Koya tribe of Andhra Pradesh. Gatka, which is a traditional, thick porridge, a staple to rural Telangana, is often enjoyed with spicy country-style chicken curry (Kodi Kura) or curd. "It is prepared on the harvest festivals and also otherwise,' he says from a Tribal conclave meant to showcase some of the heritage tribal food.

As much as the cafes are shaping the Indian cities, so is the fondness for the indigenous culinary culture proving a testament to certain recent reports highlighting a rise in the regional and hyper-local cuisine cultures. Urban audiences’ appreciation of indigenous food is, hence, turning out to be a follow-through to the rise. 

For the fondness for sharing...

Sodem Dora is one of the tribal home cooks who talks about the traditions of his region fondly. At Samvaad's tribal conclave held in Mumbai's Ishaara, a restaurant known for employing persons with hearing and speech impairments, he prepared the regional dish along with another named 'Chukkudu Papu Wada', especially for the urban audience of Mumbai. 

With Dora, at least the six tribal home cooks belonging to the indigenous communities from Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Jharkhand came to Mumbai with an intent to share the tribal culinary knowledge. Enabled by Tata Steel Foundation, five out of six tribals, who were women, gave emphasis on the traditional ingredients, seasonal produce, and minimal food waste.

Panma Lamo, who belongs to the Negi tribe of Himachal Pradesh, advocates for the same while talking to Local Samosa, sitting in her traditional attire with black and red hues. "We want to preserve our traditional food," she says, as she talks about the dishes prepared at the Losar, the Tibetan New Year, at her native Kinnaur. "Although there are many dishes that are prepared in the festival, Momo and 'Timo', which is like a bread is a must," she says.

Lamo is conscious of bringing what restaurants and the stalls usually do not, while making these dishes. "I don't use maida, but chakki ka aata (stone-ground whole wheat flour), for which aata is fermented, and we give shape and design to it." She also shares how there is a tradition of having vegetables. For the conclave, she prepared 'Matar-Mushroom' but with the spices from his native hilly region.

Even Jorlin Taropi from the Karbi tribe of Assam’s Karbi Anglong region sits in her ethnic dressing and tries to talk about how, along with the festivals, even on regular days, her tribe has a custom to eat Hanmoi. "It is prepared with dal and brinjal and paired with rice," she says.

The conclave also allowed for the food connoisseurs to devour the traditional dishes prepared by Laxmi Hansda of the Santhal tribe and Nilam Minz of the Asur tribe from Jharkhand. "By opening our kitchen to the home chefs of Samvaad, we aren’t just serving regional cuisine; we are honouring its provenance,' says Mr. Issar. 

A cultural uprising

As the inclination towards the sustaninability grows in metropolitan cities like Mumbai for quite some time now, these indigenous sharing seems to have now become a frequent choice for hospitality brands alike. Commenting upon the same, Sourav Roy, the CEO of Tata Steel Foundation, which organised the food pop-up, says, "Through Samvaad, we create spaces for the exchange and practice of wisdom that exists within and across tribal communities."

Roy shares how the organisation has been aiming at reviving traditional, nutrition-rich culinary heritage, while enhancing visibility and creating entrepreneurial opportunities for tribal home cooks. "It is to build an ecosystem where tribal knowledge and skills are recognised as drivers of sustainable livelihoods."

Calling the tribal culinary culture "unadulterated flavours", Prashant Issar, the founder of Ishaara, says, "These are unadulterated flavours where the ingredient-forward traditions of tribal India take centre stage, prepared by the very hands that carry this ancestral knowledge."