Natural Roots

आज देखि संसारमा यो पुस्तकले आदिवासीको खानाको सास फेर्ने छ। The cookbook is out in the world. May this book make visible the heritage around us that for too long has not been recognised. A heartfelt gratitude to all those who came to the launch today, old and new friends who have been with us in this food journey and who have seen many difficult layers of our work over the years. Hope you enjoy the book and the culinary creativity of the women in the highlands.

After the launch of the book, taking the women of mothers on a short pilgrimage in Patan and ending with a feast of indigenous Newari cuisine.

in partnership with British Council Nepal

For many years now we have been nurturing the knowledge around food and the role of women in the food production process. In this process, many conversations and dialogues have taken place, and so has vast amount of readings and many nights of silent reflections. After all this, we are so delighted to bring the stories and recipes from the indigenous communities in Nepal and more specially from the indigenous women whose knowledge and expertise have continued to remain hidden and unacknowledged.

We are so excited that this precious knowledge is now accessible in a written form for the first time for future generations.

This endeavor has been possible due to the support received from the cultural protection fund from the in partnership with the UK Government Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DMCS).

Tamu Lhosar: Today, Lhosar is being celebrated by the many Tamu people across the country and within the diaspora community worldwide. According to the Tamu calendar, today marks the beginning of a new year and a shift in the annual lho.

In the towns and cities, a festive gathering is organised with food stalls and musical programmes, to which everyone is welcome. Historically, there was also the practice among the Tamu people to go for a forest picnic called स्योकै (shyo kain) in Tamu language. Many Tamu also refer to this as स्योकै खाने. At this time, people go to the forest and harvest yams and taro, which they enjoy with their families and neighbours.

Pictures of wild yam harvest in Gorkha.

🌿🍲 Foraged food of bamboo shoots (tusa) are still available for a few more weeks. In Lamjung, indigenous women make a Tusa ko Tarkari - a flavorful curry with fresh bamboo shoots and protein rich soybeans (bhatmaas).

If you want to try this recipe, it is available on our indigenous food traditions series on Nepal Food Archives (YouTube).

Moving towards the harvest. The rice plantation from a few months ago are ripening in the field, soon it will be harvest time. Such stunning beauty of nature!

In Gandaki region, these lush foraged ferns are still in season, and will remain so until next month.

If you are looking for recipes from the indigenous food traditions, please visit our YouTube channel Nepal Food Archives:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxhp_UtHOXU

🌱🌾 Preserving Indigenous Food Heritage of Nepal

Yesterday, we successfully concluded one of our indigenous food heritage workshops in Gandaki Province. Despite challenging and difficult circumstances of the recent days, we were able to gather together to complete the workshop that we started last week.

In these rapidly changing times, when the knowledge traditions of the Indigenous peoples is eroding very quickly, its imperative that the younger generations become aware of their heritage so that they take custodianship to carry the tradition forward. We highly appreciate that the school and the students remained committed and prioritised this workshop in a very busy school programme with the upcoming exams and holiday.

The food menu for the workshop consisted of traditional millet roti, jhilinga, foraged ferns, soybean and fermented spinach of gundruk. As our food provider, we are so pleased to continue our support to indigenous women who uphold traditional food knowledge.

in partnership with

🌾✨Women in Food Production: Near Mount Kilimanjaro, we had the opportunity to meet some remarkable Kenyan women driving the local food systems - from grain processing to food trading.

We met Gladys, of Luo and Nandi heritage, who runs a shop selling a variety of porridge flours, including wimbi (millet), samaki (dried fish) and mhoga (ground cassava). As part of traditional meals, locals eat it as breakfast or lunch; after mixing the flour in water, sugar or milk is added.

Next, a visit to a mill nearby to see the grain processing. In front of the mill, white corns left to dry from which items such as ugali are prepared. Ugali, a popular Kenyan dish that serves as a base for stews, leafy greens and grilled meats.

🐝🪵 While at the National Museum in Nairobi we were fortunate to visit a special exhibition on honey bees and beekeeping in Kenya. As part of a beekeeping equipment, a log of wood was featured in the display, which we found very intriguing. In Amboseli, a Maasai land near Mount Kilimanjaro, we were actually able to see how these types of logs are actually used, hanging high up in the Umbrella thorn Acacia tree. So amazing to see this traditional practice still being maintained in the Maasai community!

A journey to Maasai land at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border of Kenya. The Maasai are one of the semi-nomadic and pastoral tribes, who continue to live by herding zebu cows and goats. While the Maasai way of life is under pressure in modern Kenya we were able to see the traditional Maasai herding practices around the edges of Amboseli Park. It was wonderful to see the intermingling of wild herds and pastoral herds in this ancient landscape. We were also fortunate to visit the local Maasai market and interact with local women who were selling foraged medicinal herbs. For our meals we had ugali prepared with white corn, served with greens and pastoral meats of the Maasai plains and tubers.

Photo 1: Before heading to the cattle market, a morning feast containing of boiled kasava, sweet potatoes, fried plantain and mandazi (fried bread). Mandazi has its origin traced in the Swahili culture (mixture of Arab and African culture) in the East African coast.
Photo 2: At the local cattle market where Maasai gather once a week for trading
Photo 3 & 4: Meeting women selling different medicinal herbs foraged from the nearby forest
Photo 5: Visiting a local medicine man who introduced us to the many herbs, and produce of the region.
Photo 6: Beautifully dotted design on the wooden mortar and pestle.
Photo 7: We bought some beads made by the Maasai women in the market.
Photo 8: The next day by the Amboseli National Park, with a Maasai woman selling wooden ladles and spoons.
Photo 9: In the coastal city, street food of roasted corn served with chilli and lime salt.

At the end of last month we travelled to Africa for the first time to participate in the Culture Grows symposium at the National Museum of Kenya, at the invitation of the Cultural Protection Fund

For the occasion, we set up an exhibition of our ongoing work, which we had earlier displayed here in Kathmandu. We also brought along a wide array of spices, herbs and grains from the highlands of Nepal, which provided a wonderful opportunity of exchange with the Kenyan visitors about the food heritage in their lands.

During the panel session, we were able to further highlight the importance of preserving the indigenous food heritage of Nepal in these fast-changing times. We also shared the stories of our women’s groups (aama samuha), who still maintain the many precious food traditions of our indigenous communities. Afterwards, we received many responses to our project from the audience, with several warm invitations and queries.

Watch our interactions from the symposium on our stories.

Over the next days, we will be sharing more of our explorations of the food culture in Kenya, especially in indigenous Maasai land.

Photo 1: Setting up the food exhibition
Photo 2: Explaining our project to an interested visitor
Photo 3: Showing the herbs and spices and letting visitors taste the special chutney from the highlands.
Photo 4: Sharing our food series cards with a member of the National Women’s Orchestra of Kenya
Photo 5: Being interviewed by Urban Television, Kenya about our project
Photo 6: Being introduced at the panel session along with other panelists.
Photo 7: Speaking about our project
Photo 8: Showcasing our mothers groups
Photo 9: Sharing about herbs at the museum garden