Adivasi food is seldom deemed worthy of being included in restaurant menus. This holds true even in the Adivasi heartland of Jharkhand where one can’t find Adivasi delicacies outside of a handful of Adivasi-run establishments. It is in fact easier to find dosa in the capital city of Ranchi than it is to find its local cousin chilkha roti which is also made using fermented rice.
Yet, Adivasi recipes are kept alive in Adivasi homes and haats or weekly bazaars. One of the most scrumptious dishes amongst these is a delicacy called podom jillu made by the Ho Adivasi community in the Kolhan region.
The ingredients are quotidian – soaked rice, often of the native variety called arwa chawal, is mixed with chunks of chicken marinated in mustard oil, ginger and garlic paste and spices like turmeric, coriander, cumin, chilli and garam masala.
The mixture is then tightly wrapped in multiple layers of sal leaves and cooked on an open fire until the outer layer gets charred. The end result is a densely packed, smoky amalgam of rice and chicken which is infused with the earthy flavor and aroma of sal leaves.
At first you feel like you are eating spicy chicken pulao but then the…
Source: Food coma: Podom jillu, made of rice and chicken roasted in sal leaves, is an Adivasi delicacy
