Sattvik back to tickle taste buds of foodies

TNN | Dec 29, 2012, 02.58 AM IST

inShare

Comments

More

A

A

READ MORE SRISTI|IIM-A|Gian

RELATED

• IIM-A fails to find new director
• IIM-A board likely to shortlist names for director's post
• IIM-A board meet to choose director soon
• India's first zombie film comes to IIM-A
• Value for money trumps brand loyalty: IIM-A study

AHMEDABAD: The most awaited food festival for urban households is back in the city. Sattvik, a cultural milieu to revive the forgotten traditional tastes of rural India, is being held at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) campus from December 29 to 31.

Besides providing a platform for popularizing traditional recipes made from lesser known crop varieties like Kodra, Bavta, Ragi, Samo, Jowar, Bajra and Makkai, Sattvik offers a platform for traditional organic farmers in creating market linkages for their products.

So far, the food festival has helped many Amdavadis use uncultivated vegetables, which are not consumed due to ignorance about their nutritional value and also prepare delicious dishes from such unnoticed crops.

Besides food, the festival brings together folklore, folk songs, folk tales, art and forgotten traditional music instruments from remote villages in the country. Visitors to the festival also get an opportunity to interact with innovators and thus encourage the spirit of innovation and creativity.

According to officials at Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), the main organizers of the food festival, some rare delicacies are only available at Sattvik. To name a few, Banni Ka Mawa (a famous variety of mawa only made in deserts of Banni region in Kutchh), Nagli Ni Sukhdi, Kothumbura (cucumber) Waffers, Sharad Saakar (sugar especially prepared in the moonlight on the Sharad Purnima) will be available for people to savour at the festival. Organic vegetables, grains, spices and manure will be other interesting items on sale.

As a pre-cursor to the main event, a recipe contest was held last week to raise awareness about healthy cooking. Using traditional methods of cooking, 54 participants from across Gujarat prepared more than 155 traditional delicacies. Some of the delicacies will be on display during the three-day festival.

Sattvik, which highlights diversity in cultures and tastes, was first organized in 2003 by SRISTI in collaboration with Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network ( GIAN), National Innovation Foundation (NIF), and IIM-A to stimulate demand of local crops and their varieties from dry regions so as to generate market-based incentives for their conservation.