In order to enquire into the source of  strength of working hands, we undertook  extensive fieldwork consulting subaltern communities. It was  very difficult to ask questions about food habits. One of the tribal girls we interviewed retorted, “What food? Most of the time there is nothing to eat!” Some belonging to other communities said that the yield of the day’s begging is mixed well together and boiled on the fire before being eaten. P. Sainath in one of his articles states that some communities go in search of rat holes to collect the grains that rats pilfer and hoard. Such is the intensity of hunger in our country. Harsh Mander in one of his lectures says that some of the Dalit women who live in the border areas of Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar spend their entire day in search of food. They look for undigested grains in cow-dung to clean and use.

There are some proverbs in Kannada which allude to the hunger of the downtrodden communities:

‘Close the lid on the pot when the Holeya’s stomach is full.’

‘Horsegram is enough for the Holeya.’

‘When the Holeya was given leftovers, he thought it was jaggery and ran to Bangalore.’

In Mangalore, the coastal region of Karnataka, there is a saying “In the homes of the haves, one finds milk and curd, while in the huts of the have-nots one finds basale thatched roofs” (a temporary roof constructed out of Malabar spinach creeper). The basale creeper is their main food source.

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The following recipes indicate the role of women in producing nutritious food for their family, and in procuring low-cost, easily available food sources from their environment.

1)     Meat of cow, sheep, buffalo and goat:

a)     The blood of sheep, cow, buffalo and goat is collected when they are killed. When the blood solidifies in a short while, it is cut into small pieces and fried. The fried pieces are then boiled with a masala prepared by grinding green chillies, onion, garlic, cumin, pepper and salt. Soft liver is sometimes added. This dish is known to be good for the elderly who cannot easily digest meaty food.

b)    Meat of the cow, sheep or goat is dried, pounded to make a fine powder, and then seasoned and cooked in masala. This is said to be good for children and those without teeth.

c)     The water strained out after cooking beef is given to old people and the sick as tonic.

2)     Different varieties of rat as food

a)     Beak rat – This rat is generally found alone in its hole. The hole is quite deep. The rat is caught by pouring water into the hole to force it out. The meat of this rat is said to be as tasty as pork.

b)    White rat – These are generally found in groups of 5-6 in the rat-hole. A cow-dung cake is lit in a pot and the rats are smoked out. To ensure that they don’t escape, a cloth is put around the mouth of the hole to catch them when they come out. If they die from smoke inside the hole, they are dug out. The meat of this rat is said to taste like chicken.

c)     Net rat – These rats reside in burrows that they dig to upto 20 feet underground. Each hole has around 30-40 rats. The burrow has some openings for air circulation. When any attempt is made to catch them, the rats use these openings to escape. So the openings are first plugged to stop air circulation and force the rats out. As they come out one by one, they are caught. The fat content in this meat is said to be high.

d)    Big rat – Each rat of this variety weighs nearly a kilo. These rats generally reside in small anthills. The rat is roasted on fire, its body hair removed and cleaned, then cut into small pieces and masala is added to prepare a watery curry. The alternative way is to smear it with salt and pepper and roast it on fire. This is supposed to be tastier.

3)     Kunkurugadde (wild onion) roti – Kunkurugadde is a kind of onion generally found in plains. After washing, it is baked on ash-covered cinders. Then it is mashed and mixed with ragi flour. This is then patted on a cloth before transferring it on to a pan for roasting. This is said to be good for health and is called “roti of the poor”.

4)     Crab dishes:

a)     Crab potion – The crab is cleaned and finely ground. Then it is put in a cloth and the liquid is strained and collected. Masala made of salt, green chillies, tamarind, onion, garlic, coriander and coconut kernels is added to the strained liquid and the whole concoction is boiled. Thereafter, seasoning can be added. This is supposed to be nutritious for women convalescing after delivery. It is said to improve breast milk.

b)    The crab is pounded and boiled with garlic, pepper and 4-5 glasses of water. When the water is reduced to half, it is strained and it is given to women post-partum everyday for three days before they drink water.

5)     White ants in anthills – These are caught, cleaned and eaten. In another variation, after cleaning, they are split, put in ghee and the ghee is given to babies.

6)     Mushroom sambar – The cleaned mushrooms are seasoned and boiled. While boiling, meat masala is added.

7)     Monitor lizard sambar – The cleaned meat of the monitor lizard is fried in oil and cooked with masala made of clove, garlic, onion, ginger, curry leaves and chilly powder. While boiling, a small quantity of jaggery or sugar is also added.

8)     Gulkai sambar – After de-seeding the gulkai, it is cleaned and boiled in water. Fried avare beans are added. A masala made of green chilly, onion, garlic, tomato, coriander powder and salt is put in the gulkai and boiled.

9)     Goddu khara – Roasted onion, garlic, tamarind, coriander leaves, mint leaves, red chillies, cumin, salt and a little water is ground together. Variations of this dish are made by slightly altering the ingredients.

10)   Milk gojju – Brinjal or potato is cleaned and cut into pieces. It is boiled along with garlic, salt and chilly powder. After boiling and cooling it, milk is added along with some more garlic and chilly and the mixture is again boiled. This is said to be very tasty and a good curative for clearing phlegm.

11)   Crane egg – Cranes lay eggs in thorny bushes near lakes and tanks. The light blue-coloured eggs are eaten. Cow dung is plasteed on the egg, which is then thrown into fire. After 10-15 minutes, the egg is retrieved from the fire and the baked dung is removed. The shell is also removed and the insides are eaten.

12)   Roasted beef – Dried beef is roasted in fire and used as a side dish taken along with main course, all through the year. It is also eaten along with goddu khara as side dish.

13)   Rabbit-horn:

a)     Curry – The rabbit-horn plant is found in shrubby, hilly forests. The stems are brought in, cleaned, cut and boiled for 10-15 minutes along with red chilly, cumin powder and salt.

b)    Chutney – The stems are cut and fried in oil along with onion, garlic, cumin, salt, chilly powder, black pepper and seasoned and used along with rice or mudde. It is said to be a good appetizer, and also for general health.

14)   Rain Flies –

a)     Raw – the flies which swarm the sources of light after a bout of rain are caught and eaten raw.

b)    The rain flies are dried, and added to rice grains, fried horsegram, chickpea, grated coconut and jaggery, and this tasty mixture is eaten in and around Chitradurga district (mentioned in “Janapada Aduge” by Chikkkanna Nuggekatte)

15)   The Soliga tribe uses many fruits available in the forest like kaale, kaare, sooli, jagadi, pokala, darasale, palm dates, wild cactus, wild jambhul, cashew fruit, etc. as food. Either these fruits are eaten raw, or juice is extracted from the fruits and taken. They use some of seeds of the fruits in local medicine. Salted jambhul fruit is kept overnight and eaten in the morning.

Recipes of the poor:

1.     Naamadalige – Jowar flour is cooked along with jaggery, grated coconut, ginger, cardamom and then beaten flat on a wooden platform, cut into 4 pieces, then offered to the God and eaten.

2.     Maradi Bobbatlu – Maradi trees are found in the forests of Tumkur and Madhugiri taluk of Karnataka. The tree bears fruit in May. The seed of the fruit has a hard shell around it. Once the fruit juice is sucked by the birds, the dried up fruit is collected, the shell broken open to take out the seed which tastes like badam.  This oily seed is called “pappu”, and it is used to make bobbatlu (mentioned in “Janapada Aduge” by Chikkanna Nuggekatte).

3.     The poor make rotis out of different varieties of corn. They also use corn to make their sweet dishes in the form of bobbatlu and sajjige.

4.     Crab:

a.     Fried – after cleaning the crab, it is filled with a masala prepared out of chilly powder, coconut, garlic, onion, coriander leaves, mint leaves, cinnamon, coriander seeds, black pepper and tomato, and deep fried.

b.     Crab sambar – The same masala is used to prepare sambar.

5.     Buffalo meat sambar – The cleaned buffalo meat is cooked in water. While it is cooking, a masala made out of coconut, chilly powder, garlic, ginger, coriander, fenugreek, spinach, poppy seeds, pepper, turmeric powder, salt, jaggery is added. This is generally the food of the scheduled castes, and it is taken along with roti, mudde and rice.

6.     Fox-meat sambar – Cleaned pieces of fox-meat are seasoned with cumin seeds. Pepper, garlic, and tamarind are ground into a paste and added to the meat while it is cooking. Salt is also added. Finally chilly powder and jowar flour is added to the boiling sambar. The people of Ramakonda caste are known for this recipe. It is also given to women convalescing after delivery.

7.     Karri-Nakki (Pork sambar) – Cleaned pieces of pork are cooked in water. While cooking, a masala made of grated coconut, coriander, ginger, garlic, black pepper, clove, cinnamon, tomato and salt is added. Generally this dish is prepared by the Korava community. It is given to women five days after delivery.

8.     Aambara – The water in which lentils are cooked is drained out, and seasoned with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and boiled along with coriander leaves, curry leaves, garlic, tamarind extract, chillies, salt and a little bit of jaggery. When bobbatlu is made, instead of pure jaggery, this sweet mixture is used as a stuffing in the recipe.

9.     Fish sambar – Cut onions are fried along with a masala made out of garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves, ginger, fried coconut and onion. Fried black gram powder and chilly powder is added, and when boiling, cleaned pieces of fish are added.

10.   Chutneys:

a.     Red-ant chutney – In Malnad, chutney is made out of red ants called chiguli.

b.     Crab chutney – Varieties of crabs like karedi and belledi are used to make chutney and sambar.

11.   Rice left-over from ritual practices is collected, dried out and used later.

12.   Food is also prepared out of tubers obtained without any cost in their surroundings.

–Translated by Tharakeshwar V.B.