Traditional foods helped tide over famines
Rise in commercial farming is eclipsing the importance of traditional foods have helped the people of Rajasthan survive famines for centuries. They are, in fact, woven in the colourful tapestry of the people's pastoral life in the state. Their importance can be gauged from the fact that the trees and their fruits and seeds have different names, depending on their physical attributes.
The pod of khejri is called sangri, dried tinda is called phophaliya, flowers of phog tree are called phogalo and seeds of kumbat are known by a variety of poetic names such as kumatiya, lehariya, papri and chapatiya.
But this beautiful association between traditional foods and the Rajasthani people is fast fading. In April 2016, 19 districts of the state reeled from severe droughts, but the people did not fall back on traditional foods. In fact, several of the traditional foods are no more consumed in the state. Seeds of bhurut and bark of kheri are just two examples. The importance
expensive as dry fruits. Production has gone down as on the one hand, these plants are being cut and on the other hand, new seeds are not finding suitable space for germination. A piece of land that yielded 100 kg of the product 50 years ago barely provides 10 kg of the traditional foods now, he says. The process of collection, processing and storing is also time-consuming. He adds that this is not the case with all traditional plant varieties. For example, while sangri, ker and kumatiya are still being collected, varieties such as phog, tinda and kheep are slowly disappearing.
Arvind Ojha, chief executive and secretary of the Urmul Trust in Bikaner, says certain local food varieties are making a return because of tourism. “Guests want to taste traditional foods and we see a big commercial scope here. We are trying to popularise these foods among our self-help groups. For example, we have created awareness about how guar phalli can be dried and sold as a spicy snack from the desert. It is already being sold in of traditional foods is going down because there has been a rise in commercial farming in the state, thanks to the Indira Gandhi Canal project. Just a few famine foods
fairs.” Ojha adds that the traditional varieties have the additional benefit of being organic. “We are planning to set up solar dryers to ensure the quality of these products. We are encouraging farmers to ensure that native trees and plants remain part of the farm.” He adds that a single khejri tree can increase a farmer’s earnings by as much as `10,000 a year. Besides, crops grow better under the tree and its leaves can be used as fodder.
After the three-day journey through traditional foods, we are back to the restaurants of Jodhpur serving alu poori and chowmein, a representation of the standard restaurant food in places like Delhi. It reminds me of what Kheraj Ram of Nokhda village said that as far as food is concerned, Delhi is a city of fakirs (paupers). City dwellers cannot even imagine the wide variety of traditional foods that grow wild in Rajasthan. Our only fear is that the rural people of Rajasthan too might soon lose their traditional recipes. have survived because of their cultural significance. For example, panchkuta, a mix of sangri, ker, gunda, kumatiya and kaachar, is still prepared during weddings.