Eating Habits of Arunachal Pradesh

The Arunachalese are gifted lots in the matter of good food as there is abundant Organic Food which have no side effects unlike we find commonly in plains. The most important foods are rice, wild Green Vegetables and meat basically beef, Pork, Chicken , fish and wild animals. Peoples are very fond of wild Green Vegetables which are found abundantly; if not for the Green Vegetables the Peoples life had been horrible as the Vegetables though abundantly found have not been properly marketed and the locals prefer the wild Vegetables. The peoples are very fond of wild animals meat as hunting very common out here it is not that serious matter as the Assam frontier Acts permit the traditional mode of Hunting; many types of insects and worms are also delicacy of the Arunachal menus though the outsiders may surprise at seeing at this .
Earlier the Peoples used to live like wild man ,eating fruits , roots and animals howsoever there was no instance of eating of the Human flesh this rumor may be exaggerated versions of Western media specially British whose relatives where killed by the Arunachalees like William james. Today the common food is seen to be rice and bamboo soot which are found very abundantly and it stands a good chance for its export due to its demand outside the rice in our own country as there are always natural calamity this days like lack of rainfall, and bamboo sooth in countries like Japan, korea and China as it is in great demand there. The specialty of the Bambo soot is it keeps one very hot in winter, therefore it is very useful for winter as it is said to have more heat than the Beef meat even. But unfortunately the natives are taking it in large quantity even in summer therefore there health is deteriorating as the Bamboo soot is said to aggravate the Malaria and Typhoid due to its heatness.The common feature of tribal mode of preserving there meat is roasting in the fire which makes the meat very hard therefore aggravating disease such as Piles, Gastric , Ulcer and cancer which is a common disease in tribal belt. For the outsiders the Tribal tests will be unique and funny as the taste are quite different and peculiar to the outside Peoples but nevertheless Tribal’s love it for example we like to take decomposed Soya Bean, Bamboo soot and even meat earlier, even some insects which test pungent like acid are not pardoned as the locals have adjusted with its taste. Surprisingly some non tribal’s who stay in the Arunachal have developed the taste for the tribal foods may be in one of many road block earlier they had to take it. Today the traditional way of hunting and catching fish are diminishing to a great extent. In the case of hunting- poisonous arrows were used against the dears and other animals chased by the hunting dogs and in case of fishing- poisonous seeds of some trees were grind and put with the water as a result of which lots of fish were caught. But today some anti Social elements have used DDT and Dynamite upon water which has completely annihilated the local fish which were very tasty and fresh and could have been source of revenue for the State. But some good things have also happened according to new need ; as the population increased, the water of the river were also getting polluted more and more and some new fish which eats decomposed darts are also seen to have evolved they are basically- Thailand magurs which has escaped from the fish ponds. They are good for angling and have vast tourist potentialities for angling in July, august and Sept. this is common in places like Basar of the west siang Dist.Arunachal Pradesh. The rice and other vegetables are so much good and filled with Vitamins like carbohydrates that today’s generation who don’t do much exercise and were aquinted with contaminated P.D.S Rice in there Boarding schools are suffering from many stomach problems; after all, the forefathers were thriving on jungle Beat Roots and fruits only and work hard unlike today . It is heard that today Arunachal crops are in great demand in Organic retail shops in Country and abroad.

Adv. Togo Basar