Bhubaneswar: Tribal people are known for their unique culture, lifestyle, and food habits. Daitari is a census town in Odisha’s Keonjhar district where the indigenous people relish a local delicacy known as ‘Chinti Chatpatti‘ that is made of red ants and their eggs.
As we celebrated World Tourism Day on Monday, 93.5 Red FM, India’s leading private radio and entertainment network, aired the first episode of a virtual One Week Tour with RJ Smita venturing some very exciting places which are yet to be explored fully.
Watch the first episode on the Red FM Odisha Youtube Channel
During this time of the year, these indigenous people collect red ants from leaves and nodes of the branches of big trees inside the forest. These ants are locally known as kai and build hives (kai puda) on tall trees to lay eggs.
It is not easy to get the hives from the trees. If someone tries to climb the tree, the male ants attack fiercely and bite. However, the tribals believe that the ants’ bite also helps cure several diseases.
After collecting the hive, the tribals place them on a mild flame to kill the ants and separate the eggs. Then they add tomatoes, coriander, garlic, ginger, chili, salt, and a bit of sugar to create a smooth, orange paste. Sometimes, they might cook the paste (Masala) further with oil and chopped onions.
This untouched local delicacy is famously known as Chinti Chatpatti. So far this dish known as kai chutney in the Daitari area is only found in houses of the people associated with it in this region and is yet to be introduced in eateries.
On this Work Tourism Week, the first virtual tour was to the Daitari, where RJ Smita took us through the whole process of making an extraordinary dish out of Ants! In addition, the visuals around Daitari are simply breathtaking !!