The Green Revolution was a landmark moment in India's food history. From a food-deficient country in the post-Independence years to one of the world's leading food producers, the decade between 1967 and 1977 not only revolutionised India's agriculture and food production systems but also changed Indians' food habits. From depending on diverse, seasonal, foraged wild and uncultivated foods, Indians' food habits shifted to high-yielding grains, seeds, and pulses. With further modernisation, urbanisation, liberalisation, and globalisation in the following decades, our food habits changed drastically through the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. While these rapid changes and developments provided us with necessary food and nutritional security, they also took away a lot of our traditional foods.
Here are 10 such traditional foods which were once commonplace on Indian menus.
Shevla, or dragon stalk yam, is a wild, uncultivated vegetable that grows in Maharashtra's hills and forests during monsoon. Traditionally consumed as a 'bhaji', or fry, this seasonal forest food is deeply embedded into Maharashtra's food culture and heritage.
Fogla is a traditional Rajasthani ingredient made from the dried flowers and seeds of the Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), also known as the silk cotton tree. Used both as a condiment and an ingredient to make a wide range of foods such as raita and vada or deep-fried donuts and dumplings consumed as is or in curries. Fogla used to hold a special place in Rajasthani households during the sweltering hot months of summer.
Manathakkali, or Black Nightshade, has long been treasured in traditional Tamil cuisine for its medicinal properties. While the leaves are used to prepare stews and soups like Keerai Poriyal which is believed to be good for digestion and ulcers, the berries are used in gravies with tamarind to infuse a wild, tangy flavour with subtle sweet undertones.
Rugda is the local name of small, round, wild mushrooms that grow on the mulched leaves in the humid understory of Sal forests during monsoon in the Chhota Nagpur plateau. These mushrooms have a rubber-like exterior skin and a darker yolk-like core that give them a unique meat-like texture and flavour. An uncultivated, wild food, these mushrooms are mostly foraged by Adivasi women who gather, clean, and sell them in local markets. In Bengal, these mushrooms are known as kurkuri mushrooms. They are usually stir-fried with spices, or made into a spicy, savoury curry.
Ker Sangri, a Marwari delicacy, is made with dried beans from the Khejri plant (Prosopis cineraria or Sangri), and dried Caper berries (Ker). The beans and berries and soaked in water and cooked into a yoghurt-based curry with spices like dried mango poweder, turemeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, asafoetida, and cumin seeds.
Khatta Bhaji, also known as Gongoora or Indian Sorrel, is a wild, leafy vegetable that grows in the forests of Chhattisgarh. Virtually all parts of the plant are edible. The leaves are boiled and cooked as sabzi, while the flowers are peeled and made into chutneys.
Kumatiya, or Acacia senegal seeds, are a key ingredient in the popular Marwari delicacy 'Panchkuta' sabzi or five-vegetable medley. The other ingredients are: Ker (Caper berries), Sangri (dried beans from the Khejri plant), Gunda (Cordia myxa), and mango. The medley is offered as a ritual food to goddess Shitala during Shitala Ashtami — a Hindu festival celebrated a week after Holi.
Nadru, or lotus stems, are a staple of traditional Kashmiri cuisine. Both Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims cook and consume nadru in a number of ways which involve boiling or stewing these tender stems before cooking them in a curry or gravy. Nadru yakhni, or lotus stem in yoghurt-based gravy, is one of the most popular interpretations of a nadru gravy. Although once disappearing, nadru has undergone a revival in recent years.
Avarampoo, or Avaram flowers (Senna auriculata), is an edible flower indigenous to south India. The flowers are usually dried and finely ground into flour and used to make idli, dosa, vada, and a number of other foods. It is believed to have medicinal properties, and is also used in traditional medicine.
Kathal Beechi, or ripe jackfruit seeds, are a summertime favourite of the Bengalis. The ripe jackfruits seeds are peeled, washed, and cooked in various ways from an addition in dal or lentil soup to sabzi or vegetable medleys. Although once a very popular food, it is no longer as widely used in Bengali cuisine.
Once upon a time, India was home to over 6,000 edible plants and vegetables. Now, we'd be lucky to find 60 of them in the local market. In an increasingly volatile world of crop failures caused by climate change and extreme weather events, it is important that we return to diverse, seasonal diets and wild, uncultivated foods so as to preserve India's indigenous wild food traditions and heritage.
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