Traditional recipes of district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

282-288Himachal Pradesh, a hilly state, has lot of variation in recipes prepared by local people. The communication deals with traditional recipes of district Kangra as per seasonal availability of plant material. Although food habits of local people have changed these days, still they relish the local preparations. Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques were used for documentation of required information. The plant material used by the people for recipes included its leaves, flowers, stem, fruits and root. The period of availability of raw material ranged from 1-3 months approximately. Various traditional recipes prepared especially from leaves of plants, viz. Colocasia, fig, basil, pigweed, buck wheat, and water cress are very good source of calcium, phosphorous and iron. These recipes are loosing its sheen in the fast-food culture. So, there is a need to conserve our traditional food recipes as the plant material used for these is completely organic thus nutritious and healthy /safe to eat