"The root crops are at risk of disappearing, […] compelling Reshma and Nagveni to strive to protect them"

In Joida, a town tucked away in the dense forests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Reshma and Nagveni become the unsung champions of tubers. The root crops are at risk of disappearing—largely due to commercial crops dominating fields—compelling Reshma and Nagveni to strive to protect them.

Nagveni, a generational farmer who has been growing tubers since her childhood, knows the best varieties to grow in Joida’s soil. While Reshma, an innovator in the kitchen, turns tubers like Kunbi mudli into novel dishes, such as her beloved mudali sandige (wafers). Despite coming from different communities—Reshma from the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Nagveni from the Kunbi—their bond is made by this root they both love. Nagveni and Reshma remember eating more tubers as children, back when they were largely foraged, unlike cultivated varieties they grow and eat today. “We make a variety of recipes,” says Nagveni, “from Kona (greater yam), we make kona halwa, cutlet, sev, chakli, payasam.” Kona halwa is Nagveni’s favourite tuber dish.

Joida’s forests are home to more than 48 varieties of tubers—yam, sweet potato, taro—that have sustained generations. Kunbi mudli, a gigantic tuber from the taro family, is considered the star of Joida and grown largely by the Kunbi community in the region.

Planted around May every year, tubers take six months to mature and are harvested after the Deepavali festival. Nagveni and Reshma sell them in local markets or to Spudnik Farms, an initiative by Sumeet Kaur that supports tuber farmers by directly connecting them with consumers, which brought them together.

At the Rooting for Tubers festival organised in Bengaluru last year, Nagveni and Reshma prepared a yele oota (meal on a banana leaf) with over 26 dishes, using various parts of a variety of tubers. Reimagining the crop’s potential, they also experimented with pickles, ferments, milkshakes, and stir-fries.

This year, on December 1st, Nagveni and Reshma return to the annual Rooting for Tubers festival organised by Spudnik Farms in Bengaluru, spotlighting tuber-growing communities, indigenous crop varieties, and traditional cooking.