Ajam Emba: Ranchi's Hidden Gem

In a world of fast-food and multi-cuisine restaurants, Ajam Emba takes pride in bringing authentic and indigenous tribal food to the table. This women-led restaurant was founded by Aruna Tirkey in 2016 with the motive of reviving traditional Adivasi cuisine before it disappears.

Authentic Food prepared in Ajam Emba, Source: Slurrp

Every time a new restaurant opens around the corner, we just cannot wait to explore it. With rising commercialisation and urbanisation, we tend to lean more and more towards ready-to-eat or highly processed food, majorly because it is easily available in the market. We are also exposed to a large amount of industrialised staples such as wheat, rice, and maida.

India's food service market is expected to reach almost eight billion dollars by 2028, and most of it is dominated by quick-service restaurants like Domino's, McDonald's, and KFC. The other chunk of the market is shared by Indian restaurants, which further bifurcates to South Indian and North Indian restaurants that mostly serve the basic roti, sabzi, dal, rice, sambar, rasam, and so on. We unconsciously neglect the indigenous cuisines of India that are slowly disappearing due to lack of awareness, and that's where Aruna Tirkey came up with the idea to put Jharkhand's lost cuisine back on the menu.

Aruna Tirkey, a rural development professional, is on a mission to revive and restore indigenous Adivasi cuisine. When she saw that India's heritage grains like millets are sold for high prices in the local market when compared to the staples, she was determined to start something that was not only authentic but also sustainable and economical. That's when she founded Ajam Emba, a restaurant and catering service business that serves indigenous tribal food cooked in earthen pots over wood fires and served on raw green sal leaves. Ajam Emba is a Kudukh (a tribal language) word that translates to 'great tasting food'. It is a women-led business wherein women from indigenous communities cook wholesome meals. Ajam Emba is also a cooking school that aims to empower other women by turning their cooking skills into successful entrepreneurship opportunities.

The menu is a perfect blend of traditional ingredients, including seasonal flowers! Some of the bestsellers of the restaurant are marh jhor (fermented rice tea), madua (ragi) roti, chilka roti, chicken and vegetable dumplings, and so on. The millet momos are a hit among the younger crowd. All the dishes are slow-cooked to achieve authentic flavours. All the ingredients are sourced from local farmers and fishermen. The chicken and mutton are not industrially farmed but locally sourced to bring authentic flavours to the dish. Some of the seasonal dishes include sanei phool(jute flower curry), mahua, and jheerul flowers. They also serve seasonal fishes, herbs, and snails! The sourcing of ingredients is completely carbon footprint-free and follows conservation practices.

Ajam Emba's Interiors, Source: Goya

The restaurant speaks of tribal culture not just from its food but also through its walls. One can witness colourful paintings on the walls depicting the tribal way of living and cooking food. The restaurant can accommodate around forty people at a time. It is quite packed on the weekends and it is advisable to make reservations in order to find a seat. A meal can range from sixty to three hundred rupees per person. It is quite commendable that restaurants like Ajam Emba are driving people towards traditional, authentic, and indigenous cuisines. It is not only a distinct experience but also brings people close to their local cuisines.