Tribal Entrepreneurs Bring Indigenous Cuisine To Urban Mainstream

It was the first week of March in Ranchi, Jharkhand’s capital, and summer had already set in. Gaurav Marandi, 25, and his mother, Rut Kachhap, arrived on a bike, their faces covered to shield themselves from the scorching sun. They entered a restaurant and ordered chilka roti, a traditional bread, with some local saag (leafy vegetable dish) and fish curry.

Marandi, who is from Hazaribagh district in the state and now living in Ranchi, visits this restaurant, Ajam Emba, at least three times a month. Tucked away from the bustling Kanke road, it sits in a quiet residential area. At first glance, it resembles a half-built house with a kutcha (temporary) roof, but stepping inside reveals a courtyard full of greenery and walls adorned with paintings that narrate stories of tribal life.

At the doorstep, a staff member gently requests visitors to remove their shoes before entering. A whiteboard at the entrance welcomes guests with johar,  a traditional greeting in Jharkhand. It introduces the restaurant as the “Taste of Jharkhand” and lists menu categories, starting with dishes made from seasonal leafy vegetables and flowers. On this particular day, the options include chakod jhor (a soup of Cassia tora), kudrum flower or roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) chutney, beng (Centella asiatica) chutney, Jirhul flower (Indigofera cassioides) pakoda, red rice, and several other traditional dishes. The menu also features a section for chilka roti (bread made with rice batter on a pan) and pitha (a sort of steamed dumpling made from rice flour dough and stuffed with pulses).

“The food we crave isn’t available anywhere else,” Marandi says, highlighting the absence of local or traditional food in Ranchi’s restaurants. His mother nods, adding, “It reminds us of home.”

Ajam Emba is one of the few restaurants that have come up in last few years, promoting the tribal cuisine of Jharkhand in Ranchi. The name itself means “delicious taste” in Kurukh, the language spoken by the Oraon community, says Aruna Tirkey, the restaurant’s founder. Tirkey belongs to the Oraon tribe.

Alongside Ajam Emba, Mandi Eddpa in Ranchi and The Open Field in Khunti — about 40 km from Jharkhand’s capital, known for lac production — are other restaurants leading this movement, experimenting with local ingredients and promoting indigenous food culture.

A cursory glance at The Open Field’s regular menu details many dishes made from local ingredients such as gulgula chutney, dal pitha and more. Its seasonal menu lists jirhul phool chokha (mashed potatoes blended with Jirhul flowers), a fermented rice drink, mahua kheer (a sweet dish made from mahua) and more.

Kapil Vinod Toppo, who runs Mandi Eddpa, serves indigenous food alongside Korean food under the banner of Café De Arte that operates from the same premises in Karamtoli, Ranchi. “Young people come for Korean food, but those above 40 are more interested in local food,” he says. His menu includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian options including various types of dumplings and breads such as dumbu, patta roti, sakam pitha and madwa momo, rice and meat dishes such as suri bhat, patpora, and more.

Experts see these initiatives as part of a larger trend in India. Rohit Parakh, who supports government engagement in National Coalition for Natural Farming, says that tribal food systems have historically been deeply connected to natural ecology, both in production and consumption. This relationship continues across many parts of India, whether through cultivated crops or the growing recognition of uncultivated greens, he says. Like Ranchi, restaurants in other states such as Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh are also making efforts to mainstream tribal food.

Soumik Banerjee, an independent researcher associated with initiatives like the Network for Conserving Central India (NCCI), has spent 19 years in Jharkhand, studying tribal food and health. Having visited a few of these restaurants in Ranchi, he says their effort is a positive step in reviving indigenous cuisine. “People in cities were unaware of these foods, and even rural communities were beginning to forget these healthy and environmentally friendly options. These restaurants are helping bring them back,” he says. Banerjee also notes that these restaurants are modernising traditional food with slight innovations, such as incorporating momos into the menu with a local touch, to increase acceptance. “It’s a good strategy to make local food more popular,” he adds.

Toppo explains that he has modified some dishes to enhance their appeal. Tirkey, however, says she has made only minor tweaks, such as occasionally using butter for added flavour. Manisha Oraon, who runs The Open Field, says she believes in better presentation but insists on no compromise with tradition.

The roots of the idea

Tirkey traces the roots of her initiative back to her family. Her late father, Philip Tirkey, a teacher at a mission school, consciously educated his children about the benefits of local food. However, the idea gained momentum when she participated in a food competition organised by the Welfare Department of the Jharkhand government in Ranchi in 2016. She prepared Santhali food items and won first prize. After that, she began receiving orders from government departments. Encouraged by the recognition, she established the Centre for Tribal Food and Cuisine Centre.

However, she felt that the name suggested broader activities beyond food. In 2018, she rebranded and relaunched it as the Ajam Emba restaurant. Initially, many tribal people visited the restaurant out of curiosity. However, it gained wider recognition with media coverage and word of mouth. After the COVID-19 pandemic, her late husband, Rana Roy, had invested in research and promotion to expand its reach. He died in 2023. In December last year, Ajam Emba opened a new branch at Getalsud dam at the request of the forest department, says Tirkey.

Toppo, meanwhile, says his inspiration for promoting indigenous food is rooted in spirituality. While working for a private company in South Korea, he was deeply influenced by the society’s conduct and connected it with the country’s food culture. “Ramen bowls are popular there, and I realised they are quite similar to maad-bhaat from my region,” he explains.

After the pandemic, Toppo wanted to start his own food-related business. He came across videos of Aruna Tirkey and decided to open a restaurant serving indigenous and Korean food. His restaurant currently offers both cuisines, but he is now planning to open a new restaurant at 10 Mile Chowk in Ranchi, which will primarily focus on local food.

Oraon of The Open Field also credits Tirkey, saying that Tirkey’s initiative gives her confidence. However, her journey started with a rose farming business in Khunti in 2018. Visitors would come to see the farm, and they also enjoyed the local food. Through this venture, she connected with farmers, who became integral to her work.

“When the rose business didn’t work out, we wanted to continue working with farmers, so in 2021, we transitioned into promoting local food and building a value chain,” she says.

Oraon initially began sourcing farm produce from 11 women, a number that has now grown to around 300 farmers from the Khunti and Gumla districts, with more districts in the pipeline. “The goal is not just to promote local food but also to establish a value chain,” she explains.

Today, she receives invitations from major hotels and events from different parts of the country to showcase indigenous cuisine. “At any major government event, such as fairs, there is now a dedicated tribal food section,” she notes, pointing to the trend over the past few years, where an ecosystem promoting indigenous food has emerged. Oraon and her team are also working on documenting Jharkhand’s tribal cuisines and their unique preparation techniques.

Aruna Tirkey shares a similar journey in setting up the supply chain. Initially, she was sourcing raw materials directly from the market. In 2022, she started focusing on building the supply network. She visited Gumla and organised a food festival, which helped connect more people to her initiative. As a result, the range of food items she offers also expanded.

“Today, we offer 50 seasonal items, including 20 types of green leafy vegetables and 10 varieties of flowers, including mahua,” she says. While she still depends on the local market for perishables like fish, chicken, coriander leaves, and tomatoes, most of the other ingredients are sourced directly from local haats (weekly markets) or the community. Tirkey often travels to remote villages to explore traditional foods and expand her offerings.

Unlike Tirkey and Oraon, Toppo still relies on the market for raw materials to prepare traditional dishes. “Availability is a challenge,” he admits.

Sustaining tribal food systems

Tirkey joined the Slow Food Movement in 2019. The global movement advocates for good, clean, and fair food while working to preserve biological and cultural diversity. She explains that tribal food systems are inherently regenerative. “Take futkul, for example,” she says, referring to a leafy vegetable. “Harvesting it involves thinning the plant, which is essential for its growth.”

Parakh, however, says that the primary consumers of these foods should be local communities. He cautions against mainstreaming these foods in regions where they are not traditionally produced, as this can disrupt local ecosystems. For instance, in Uttarakhand, the overharvesting of certain produce due to mainstreaming led to a decline in availability. Therefore, such efforts must be approached with cautious optimism.

The entrepreneurs all express an important aspect associated with their initiatives – pride. Sharing her experiences, Tirkey says, “Earlier, the misconception was that the food habits in my culture were related to a crisis or poverty. But now, it is changing, and many families are taking pride in their traditional diets and cooking them at home, too.”

Parakh also says that for a very long time, these foods have been labelled as “poor man’s food,” while urban diets have been positioned as aspirational. This narrative needs to change but with a caveat. Tribal cultures often emphasise sharing harvests within the community rather than selling them, with only the surplus being taken to the market. Parakh hopes that while enterprises and restaurants may offer fair prices for these foods, it should not undermine the traditional economy of sharing and community cohesion.

Banerjee shares a similar concern. While these initiatives raise awareness among urban consumers, rural communities are also forgetting the nutritional and cultural significance of their food heritage. “If we can strike a balance between promotion and preventing overexploitation, we can successfully revive these nutritious foods,” he says adding that the government should actively support the cultivation and conservation of these foods. “Incorporating them into schemes like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and mid-day meal programmes could further raise awareness and ensure better nutrition,” he adds.

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay India. Read the original article here)