Raipur travel guide

Farra

Madhya Pradesh's tribal steamed food—rice flour dumplings or cakes filled with lentil or spiced vegetable filling; a simple, nourishing forest food of Baiga tribes; served at tribal homestays in Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Park buffer zones

Muthia

Gujarats steamed snack—dumplings made from wholewheat flour, chickpea flour, grated bottle gourd and spices, steamed then sliced and sautéed with mustard and sesame; a Surti-Kathiyawadi specialty; prepared in advance and re-heated daily; entirely unique to Gujarat's home kitchens

Chila

Rajasthan and North India's quick chickpea crêpe—thin besan batter poured onto a hot griddle and cooked into a protein-rich pancake with green chili and coriander; eaten as street food or home breakfast with yogurt and coriander chutney; Udaipur and Jaipur's vegetarian food stalls all have it

Iddhar

Chhattisgarh tribal community's fermented millet cake—rice or millet flour fermented and steamed into rounds; a staple food of forest communities in Bastar and Jagdalpur; eaten with chutney made from forest herbs; occasionally available at tribal cultural centers and eco-tourism homestays

Bore basi (rice dish)

Odisha and Chhattisgarh's overnight fermented rice—cooked rice saved from the previous evening, submerged in water and left overnight to ferment; eaten cool in the morning with raw onion, dried chili and salt; an ancient cooling and probiotic breakfast tradition of eastern India

Mahua liquor

Central India's Adivasi flower spirit—mahua flowers from the Madhuca longifolia tree collected fallen from the ground, sun-dried and distilled into a clear spirit by Gond, Baiga and Bhil communities; legally complex status; available at tribal districts' markets; important for community ritual