In a first, food festival showcases authentic Gutti Koya delicacies

A food festival in Chintoor highlights the diverse traditional food of the Gutti Koya tribe, prepared using uncultivated forest sources.

In a first, the diversity of the traditional food of the Gutti Koya tribe was highlighted at a food festival held at Ramachandrapuram, a habitation of Internally Displaced People (IDP), in Chintoor agency in the Alluri Sitarama Raju district. 

The one-day festival was held on January 20 under the aegis of Jana Vikas Society (JVS), an organisation working on the rights and livelihood of the Gutti Koya and Konda Reddi tribes in the Godavari agency. 

The IDPs migrated from naxal-hit Chhattisgarh a few years ago and settled in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha borders.

51 varieties

As many as 51 women from the Ramachandrapuram habitation have prepared 51 authentic delicacies using products collected from the forest nearby.

While the food recipies have been passed on from many generations, a majority of the food sources are not fully explored by the present generation. 

Ramachandrapuram Patel (village elder) Kunjam Bheemaiah inaugurated the festival in the presence of nearly 600 fellow tribals who thronged from various habitations of the IDPs.