When a meal is not just a meal but a privilege…Bastar Food Festival at The Park Hotel, Bangalore
What a privilege it is when food is much more than a meal that you consume, but something more… a window to another world. I have never been to Chhattisgarh, leave alone Bastar. I guarantee that well over 99% of Indians can’t find it on a map. But the Park has collaborated with B Bindu of Culture Devi to bring down Jatiya Baghal and Umesh Baghal, two cooks from the Muria and Mahara tribes of Bastar to cook and showcase their food. The word Baghal means the caretaker of the Bagh or tiger. The food that Jatiya and Umesh have cooked shows their deep sense of connection to their land and what it gives them.
The food uses none of the heavy oils and masalas we are used to. Techniques like smoking and fermentation come to the forefront. The technique in the smoking shines in dishes like the smoked turu fish (a small white bait like river fish) or in the anda pugda, where an egg (in this instance but usually any protein) is wrapped in leaves and cooked over charcoal.
The vegetables are hyper local and best daal I ate was a variety called jhudunga that I’ve never had before. The sourness in the dishes comes from tamarind rather than lime. There is a ragi porridge, almost a gruel, that is eaten before the farmers go to till the soil, but which comes to life with the chapra or red ant chutney with its wonderful, sharp acidity. And if red ants are a bridge too far then you can have a keu kanda or insulin tuber plant chutney which also helps with your sugar and globose levels.
The country chicken and rice dish, almost khichdi like, would put most biryanis to shame while the kochai chingdi curry, dried small freshwater shrimps with small colocasia tubers is packed with soul and flavour.
To eat this food, so new and different, and yet strangely familiar, was an eye opening experience. I had the good fortune of Bindu joining Kiron and me for lunch and I was almost ashamed about how little I knew about Bastar beyond it being a predominantly tribal region in the Chota Nagpur plateau. What I knew was Bastar art and iron and minerals and Mahua. What I didn’t know was anything that went beyond that superficial level. Thanks to this meal and the experience, I (like Ulysses) am reminded that the more one discovers, the more one understands what is still undiscovered and unexplored.
I have incredible respect for the Cuisines of India food festivals that Kiran has been organising at The Park ever since he took over. I would go so far as to say that it is my favourite pop up/festival food programming of any hotel in India currently. The Bastar popup comes on the heels of events showcasing Khasi, Ladakhi, Naga and Chettinad food.
They say that to understand the world, we must first understand ourselves. What Kiron is doing is helping us discover and explore parts of the country that are forgotten and that exist on the fringes of our consciousness and understanding.. if at all. By showcasing and highlighting them, he is helping protect, preserve and celebrate the richness of our shared heritage, the diversity of our cultures and the magical tapestry that makes India so special. It is a voice against mass production, against homegeneity, against the same brands from the same cities defining the national food agenda.
It takes courage and conviction for a hotel to do a Bastar food festival. And I salute you for what you’re doing with your Cuisines of India series.
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