Tribespeople in Attappady have inherited a distinct culinary expertise that has withstood the ravages of deprivation that swept the region during the last four decades.
Prepared in their native style in earthen vessels on firewood, the region has more than two dozen varieties of delicacies based on pulses, millets, rice and vegetables. Even in non-vegetarian delicacies, the tribal culinary traditions of Attappady remain rich.
It is in this context that the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has initiated the concept of an exclusive chain of tribal ethnic cafes involving women members of the tribal Kudumbasree Poverty Eradication Mission units. The first of such tribal cafes will come up very soon in Palakkad town. Lok Sabha member M. B. Rajesh has offered the required infrastructure and other facilities using his local area development fund. The second café will become operational on the premises of the civil station in Thrissur by January. The facility will be replicated across the State based on demand.
“When NRLM officials approached me with this unique concept, I found it useful for Kudumbasree units in Pudur grama panchayat in Attappady, which has been adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. The first café is coming up close to my local office in Palakkad. Thrissur-based Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (Costford) has been entrusted with the task of building the café in ethnic style using bamboo, Mr. Rajesh told The Hindu . The café will also have a special section to retail agricultural products sourced from tribal farmers across Attappady.
According to NRLM coordinator Seema Bhaskar, the ethnic café concept gets its inspiration from the tribal ethnic shop started on the Thrissur Civil Station premises two months ago. “The ethnic shop is retailing agricultural produces and food products sourced directly from tribal farmers in Attappady by the tribal Kudumbasree unit of Chalayoor Tribal Settlement. The shop has turned into a proven success. It earns ₹15,000 profit every week through retailing quality tribal food at affordable rate. Two tribal women from Chalayoor have been made full-time employees of the shop and they run the unit by staying in hostels in Thrissur,” said Ms. Seema.
With the Thrissur district administration giving permission to retail cooked food, the NRLM plans to start its second ethnic café close to the ethnic shop by January. “Our plan is to convert it as a café chain with the support of local bodies, governmental agencies and people’s representatives. People can relish the rare food varieties in the cafes, and help empower the impoverished tribal community of Attappady,” said Ms Seema.
Little millet upma, finger millet porridge and traditional cakes based on pulses and cereals are some of the delicacies one can savour at the cafes. There is a traditional charcoal baked chicken variety that is wrapped in banana leaf. There will be a special coffee the ingredients of which include leaves of aromatic plant thulasi and powder of Chinese potato, known locally as koorka.
“Our focus earlier was on feeding the tribespeople nutritious meal to prevent poverty and malnutrition related deaths. Now the effort is to prompt them to run their own ethnic cafes to empower themselves economically,’’ said Ms Seema. The Palakkad café will be operational by mid-December.
