Ever wondered what the people of the Kotgarh Hills ate before dal-chawal-subzi-roti took over. Most ate food which was quite plain and dull but provided high heat and energy to see them through the day of hard work in their fields. The vegetables preparations were almost non existence except for the ubiquitous tubers. The different forms of bread cooked in different styles formed staple with rice and milk based products and a few homegrown pulses and cereals were also used in some main course preparation. Meat was always a luxury as one had to loose his livestock for dinner nonetheless the people of the hills ate sheep, goats and lamb.

Enter any Kotgarh kitchen (rasoi) today; the traditionally chulla (fed by forest wood) has made way for more convenient and modern ovens, microwave, and LPG fed stoves. The layout and the utility have also changed with time. Most of the fare has been renegaded to special occasions primarily because of the availability and affordability of the seasonal vegetables, pulses and cereals. Today an average kitchen churns out all sorts of meat, lentil and cereal preparations.

I have put together a list of dishes and preparations from the Hills. Some of them have been long forgotten but some still retain their popularity.

Breads:
Baturu – Leavened bread cooked on a griddle
Lauta – Wheat flour pancake (thin and soft)
Patanda – Wheat pancake (large and thick)
Chalaudhi – Unleavened maize bread cooked on a griddle
Seegdi – Leavened bread with stuffing – steamed
Zarigra – Like seegdi of Barley (smaller in size)
Panigri – Stuffed dumplings bread – poached
Bathodi – Unleavened Millet bread
Kadraudi -
Mashroudi – Unleavened black gram (urdh) bread
Pakain – Wheat flour leavened bread – fried

Main Course:
Baadi – water+ghee+ salt or sugar +wheat+ cook
Gadani – water + Jagger + wheat
Khatta – curd accumulated in a clay urn over time and whey discarded each day; cooked with spices
Bada – black gram fried dumpling
Churah – buckwheat flour sweet fried bread
Sanshe – suju or maida pancakes (sun dried) and fried
Khobdru – atta dumpling
Katrari – rice + lassi (cook)
Aaalo le bhazi
Indra – kolth + aloo
Dhandra – arbi leaves
Lapphi – coarsely ground maize + roasted millet = cooked (accompanied my chas)
Daauna – wheat flour+maize flour bread stuffed with jaggery etc and cooked in warm ash/amber (It was a favorite with the folks who had to wait for their turn at the gharat) and another favorite delight was roasted potato (bhozena adho) – roasted in the warm ash.
Sattu - grounded rosted dried corn or barley dried accompanied by buttermilk

Non-Veg Delicacies
Meenz bedhau- (fat of goat/meat used for stuffing in seedgi)
Tongra shooruo – soup of animal totters
Bhozena shkar – meat roasted in warm ash and amber (viz. chalza-liver, buktu-heart, bhash-lungs)
(————– )- Sheep/Goat intestines stuffed with blood (palach) and wheat flour mixed with spices and boiled (just like blood sausages)
Dalkhi – stewed meat

Relish/Chutney:
Pudina Chutney
Delle ke Chutney (apricot kernel)
Till ke Chutney
Chas (buttermilk)

Sweet Dishes:
Meetha bhat (branz)
Seera – sweet dish cooked in ghee from the extract of the wheat grain (endosperm)
Atta Halwa – ghee+atta+Jaggery

Wild Ingredients:
Kungshi (Nettle) – used as stuffing (bedho) or for broth and as veg
Balaltu (Field gr
ass) – used for veg
Rachi (Wild mushroom – Chanterelle)
Chauen (Morels)
Lengude (Fiddlehead Fern)
Chaulai (Amaranth)

(I have tried my best to get the name and ingredients right. I would build and fix the recipes in due course. In case correction need to be made please drop a mail at admin@kotgarh.in)

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