Wholesome, winsome millet

The indigenous community of the Badagas loved experimenting with millets and often used ragi, jowar, foxtail millet, kodo and pearl millet to make a variety of dishes, writes Ramaa Shankar Aiyer

The blue mountains, popularly known as Nilgiris, have an enthralling history behind them. The captivating hilly regions have been home to wildlife and different tribes for centuries till the British subjugated them. The Nilgiris was under the rule of the Tipu Sultan before it was ceded to the East India Company in 1799 by the Treaty of Srirangapatnam.

The first Britisher who visited Nilgiris was John Sullivan, who started developing a British settlement and community there. The lush, peaceful, and untouched forests of the Nilgiris had in the past been home to six indigenous tribes — Badagas, Todas, Kotas, Kurumbas, and Paniyars. The Badagas were the farmers, the Todas pastoralists who occupied the upper plateau, the Kotas were artisans, and the Irulas, Kurumbas, and Paniyars were hunters and agriculturists. Trade was a cashless exchange of products between the tribes. The Badagas used to grow millet, barley, and wheat. Their traditional food was millet-based, and many heritage recipes were handed down from generation to generation. The fertile region was favourable for the cultivation of millet, spices, fruits, and vegetables, especially root vegetables. With the advent of the British, large areas of land belonging to the tribals were usurped. The English soon had vast stretches of tea plantations and also planted vegetables like carrots, beans, and beetroot. Tea soon became a popular beverage with locals too. The local tribal cuisine started including these vegetables. Badagas loved experimenting with millets and often used ragi, jowar, foxtail millet, Kodo millet, pearl millet, etc., to make a variety of dishes like Ragi Mudde, Thinai Kanji, Samba dosa, and steamed idlis. Millets of all varieties were dominant in their cuisine. They used to dry roast finger millet in a mud pot over a wood-fired earthen stove, then roasted it before grinding it in a grinding stone to make dosas or handmade rotis. Mud pots or madake were used for cooking and were placed on the traditional wood-fired earthen stove.

Some of their popular dishes include ottu kudal curry, avaray udhakka (beans with potato curry), Badaguru Koi Udaka (Badaga chicken curry) and thinai butter biryani pathupattu. Hatchike, a Badaga dessert, is made using little millet or Samai. Another millet dish ragi hittu or ragi mudde is made of finger millet and is a healthy alternative to rice and wheat. Dishes like ganjike made from barley are almost distinct. The health benefits of millet include protecting cardiovascular health, preventing the onset of diabetes, and managing weight. Since this is the year of millets, it can be hoped that a lot of Badagas, who still possess ancestral land, will resume millet cultivation instead of selling it for commercial use.