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As an urban dweller, you may be spoiled for choice when it comes to food. But not often do we cook with seasonal indigenous ingredients like the Kunbi mudali of Joida, ambe haldi, etc. Are we aware of our food source or the people who cultivate it? Maybe not as much since our purchases may be limited to markets or online orders.
You may have eaten certain nutritious tubers like the humble potato, sweet potato, yams, cassava, and taro that are widely used in Indian cuisine. But the Kunbi tribal community of Joida, in the western Ghats region of northern Karnataka, has been cultivating and consuming many indigenous varieties of tubers deep in the woods for ages, starting in their backyard. They have been consuming indigenous tubers and working hard to preserve the rich food traditions that have been passed down to them through generations.
Joida's Kunbi community has a rich history of practicing shifting agriculture and cultivating paddy and tuber crops in Joida for over 400 years in the region. Their livelihoods depend heavily on minor forest produce and tubers, which serve as a crucial source of both food and income. "We grow about 40–50 tuber varieties of various shapes. Earlier, we used to cultivate tubers only for local consumption, and to some extent, people from Goa would buy them from us. Now we hope to make these varieties available to people outside of Joida. And among the varieties, the giant Kunbi Mudali is exclusive to the region. Others include jhaad or zaad kanaga (Plectranthus rotundifolius), kasaraalu (a variant of Giant Elephant Ear Taro), dhave kona, kaate kanaga (Dioscorea esculenta), elephant foot yam, and more," says Jayanand Derekar, President of the Kunbi Samaj.
In the past decade, the tuber festivals, or annual tuber melas, in Joida have piqued the interest of other farming communities from South India, who visit once a year. "Tubers are largely a six-month crop. Every year, we offer prayers to God and harvest a fresh batch during the Sankranti festival. Before the arrival of the following festival, Ugadi, we re-plant the tubers, and those are ready for harvest 6 months later for Diwali, and the cycle repeats," says Namrata from Joida's Kunbi community.
The locals have been showcasing their produce, selling it, and exchanging knowledge about its preservation and preparation. They also have cooking competitions that have led to the innovation of so many new dishes using these locally grown tubers. "Tubers are largely used to make curries, mudali (taro) fries, or are simply eaten boiled with salt. Initially, it was only the rice bakris (rice flatbreads) and these curries and fried preparations that were prominent. Eventually, as we started participating in the year-on-year tuber fest and featuring a variety of dishes like halwa, chips, bhajjis, vada, cutlets, and more," says Nagaveni Derekar, who belongs to the Joida's Kunbi community and cultivates tubers.
In the last few years, many urban collectives have partnered and worked to organize events with Joida's farming communities and FPCs to introduce these rich and nutritious tubers to the urban landscape while helping the struggling farming communities earn a sustainable income for their livelihoods from their produce. "My first trip to Joida was quite humbling because it opened my eyes to the bewildering variety of indigenous produce in the region. I also experienced the extraordinary generosity of the Kunbi community and, at the same time, witnessed them struggling to earn a decent livelihood. That’s when we started working with the community to create sustainable livelihood opportunities using agriculture," says Sumeet Kaur, founder of Spudnik Farms.
Do you know about the giant, soon-to-be-GI-tagged Kunbi mudali or the Collocacia esculenta cultivated by the Kunbi community that grows exclusively in the villages of Joida in North Karnataka? These indigenous tubers possess a high nutritional value as they contain proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, flavonoids, vitamin K, calcium, zinc, and iron. With a shelf life that extends for months if stored right, the Kunbi community of Joida has a special way of preserving them in underground clay pits by using the ash residue from firewood. "Having been familiar with many of these ingredients, it was interesting to learn about their storage techniques and shelf lives," says chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar, Founder of Edible Archives, and one of the chefs who participated in the programme.
Apart from that, there are many methods to treat these tubers that one must follow to be able to safely consume them. "Some of the tubers, especially Kunbi Mudali, are spiny and cause allergic reactions like itchy throats when consumed without being cleaned properly. We must be careful even while harvesting them, as touching them causes an itchy reaction. We use a lot of souring agents like vaate huli (monkey jack) and kokum to clean and prepare many of these tubers before cooking," says Nagaveni Derekar.
Having been aware of the nutritional benefits of these tubers, she goes on to mention the dhave kona or white yam, which is the next popular variant of the region besides the Kunbi mudali. "After kona tuber is harvested, it should be washed and cleaned. You first peel it, cook it, and then cut it because when you cut it raw, it will be slimy, and that's where all the nutrition is. So, we shouldn't wash it off," says Nagaveni.
Recently, a chefs' residency program was organised by Spudnik Farms in collaboration with a talented chefs’ team, Joida's Kali Farmers Producers Company, and the Courtyard in Bengaluru to exchange ideas and knowledge about the culinary potential and biodiversity of these crops. A team of well-known chefs travelled to Joida and spent time with the Kunbi community, learning about the tubers, their preparation, storage techniques, and more about various other indigenous ingredients. This was followed by a grand luncheon in Bengaluru that featured over 20 dishes using the tubers and other indigenous ingredients that were curated by the home chefs of Joida, some of whom were travelling to the city for the first time. The lunch was a traditional banana-leaf affair that began with a mango ginger (a ginger that has the aromas and flavours of a mango) drink called the ambe-haldi refresher. Following that, the menu featured boiled dhave kona, or white yam, with liquid jaggery, khubbe chutney, which was a clam and zaad kanaga chutney, 3 kinds of wafers made of mudli (taro) called sanadige, Kunbi mudali rava-fry, mudali bharta, elephant foot yam curry, khat-khatte (a konkani mixed-vegetable stew), rice bhakris, wadis (deep-fried new rice poori), sungata kari (kasaralu and prawn curry), mudli cake, kona halwa, payasam and more.
These indegenous tubers pack a lot of energy, which makes it ideal to have a tuber meal while fasting during religious occasions like Sankashti or for weekly fasts that are largely practiced by Indian folk. And many Joida community home chefs have been experimenting and innovating with this ingredient, Kunbi mudli, and other indigenous tubers.
"While honey may be available in the jungles, we do beekeeping in boxes and use honey for household consumption. Kona tubers are boiled, mixed with honey, and eaten just like that. It is usually the first thing that we serve our guests," says Namrata, who is also a home chef in the community and popular for making rice bakris.
She continues, "Another way of cooking the mudali without adding souring agents is by placing it on charcoal embers and cooking it dry. This way, the thorns get burned, and we may not have to use souring agents to cook it either, as it won't cause an itching sensation in your throat when consumed. We make chutney and bharta out of it that are very tasty."
Many of these that were considered inedible are being treated and utilised in food preparations and paired with prawns and fish even for many generations while we might have been oblivious to the wealth of knowledge. With proper treatment, these indigenous tubers offer a rich and nutritious source of food from India's tribal heartland. This can make anyone ponder the sustainability and prevalence of these silent growers in nature for generations to come. It's time to give these resilient crops and the communities that cultivate them the recognition they deserve.
