Culinary

Recipes from farmers across India featuring unique regional ingredients and ways to cook lesser-known local dishes.

Meghalaya’s Paddy Fields Hold More Than Just Rice

Randa Papiah, Toy Sumer, and Hunlang Papiah recall their memories of catching dohthli (snakehead fish) in the paddy fields of Meghalaya during the rice harvesting season.

Charota Bhaji

Charota bhaji is often served with pej (corn water), making for a light yet satiating dish.

Putpura Sabzi

Putpura mushrooms, foraged from beneath sal trees during the monsoon, are a seasonal delicacy among tribal communities in central India.

Niang Ryndia Salad

In Meghalaya, Eri silkworm pupae are often eaten after the silk cocoon has been harvested.

Tuber Mix

This recipe from Wayanad in Kerala uses a mix of tubers to create a hearty meal.

Foxtail Millet Pudding

This recipe from the Kolli Hills of Tamil Nadu combines foxtail millet, jaggery, and coconut into a slow-cooked dessert.

Finger Millet Halwa

The use of ragi in this recipe for Finger Millet Halwa helps meet the demands of high-intensity physical labour within the tribal belts of Odisha.

Futkal Chutney

This cooling, slightly sour-tasting chutney from Jharkhand is an ideal accompaniment to meals during the summer.

Mahua Kheer

Innate to Jharkhand, this kheer is made using Mahua flowers gleaned from the forest floor.

Handiya

This fermented rice beer from Jharkhand is valued for its cooling properties and subtly sour flavour.

Chakka Kuru Theeyal

Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty’s recipe for Chakka Kuru Theeyal brings together jackfruit seeds and roasted coconut in a classic Kerala curry.

Chakka kuru Thoran

Sridevi’s recipe for chakka kuru and murungakai thoran—highlighting jackfruit seeds and drumsticks—emerges from a monsoon tradition in Kerala.

Ras Waali Bhindi

Rooted in seasonal, home-style cooking, this dish from Bihar highlights bhindi that is simmered in mustard oil and spices.

Chana Khakhra

This dish is rooted in community, memory, and the vibrant spirit of Holi celebrations among the Bhils of Gujarat.

Bommi’s Crab Pepper Fry

Seasoned by the Sea is a coastal community cookbook published by Uyir Pathipagam (2025). Bommi’s family is widely known as crab-sellers in the Thazhankuppam region of Tamil Nadu. Her crab dish, involving simple ingredients and techniques, highlights the flavours of fresh crab.

Mahua ka Laata

A recipe that highlights the foraging practices of the tribes of Gond through the versatile Mahua flower. It is featured in “Recipes for Change – Recipes for Coexistence”, a publication about wild foods from the Adivasi women of Panna undertaken by Dhaatri, an NGO.

Bamboo Pickle

A simple pickle recipe that uses forged bamboo pickles which is sourced from the Gond women of Panna. It is featured in “Recipes for Change – Recipes for Coexistence”, a publication about wild foods from the Adivasi women of Panna undertaken by Dhaatri, an NGO.

This curation is part of the Woman Farmer Project, a multimedia storytelling initiative led by The Locavore in partnership with the Doc Society Climate Story Kitchen. It aims to build a roadmap for successful collaborations between institutions and innovative grassroots networks who are committed to amplifying climate stories.

The Doc Society supports climate action across the globe by championing independent filmmakers, audio producers, journalists, and artists working alongside impact producers and movement builders to bring more communities into climate conversations to advance climate just and biodiverse futures.