Recipes of western Odisha

Indigenous-sometimes known as traditional foods- are those foods that people have access to locally, without having to purchase them, and within traditional knowledge and the natural environment from farming or wild harvesting. There is a great diversity of cultural ecosystems that sustained Odisha's Indigenous Peoples throughout history, and hence, there is a great variety of indigenous foods that are part of our collective human knowledge. Indigenous foods can be categorized as plant foods, animal foods, earth elements such as salts, and water. Research on indigenous foods can benefit efforts to protect the world's natural environments. Today, a mix of market and traditional food is common for most people, but traditional food remains an important source of many nutrients. It helpful for weight control (less calories), better for the heart, better for muscles and blood, better for wound healing and fighting infection, better for vision and fighting disease, The tremendous diversity of plant foods available to and used by Odisha's Indigenous Peoples, which is the subject of this book, is an area deserving of careful study and documentation.