Hyderabad’s Forest & Fire food festival celebrates India’s indigenous cuisine

Forest & Fire, a limited-time food festival at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre (NHCC) & HICC until July 26, is chef Harshita Kakwani's culinary journey through the forests of Central India.

A food researcher and culinary storyteller at Permit To Grill and Food Exchange, Harshita who hails from Indore, draws on her time spent documenting the food traditions of indigenous communities, uncovering ingenious ways of using seasonal ingredients, preserving produce, and cooking over wood fire. The result is an ode to simplicity, with dishes such as puri made with urad and khapli flour, jamun transformed into a curry, and elephant foot yam in a tangy buttermilk gravy. On a cloudy afternoon, though, it was the Saoji chicken curry — made with whole spices and finished with a rice flour slurry — that perfectly suited the weather.

To go with it were crisp accompaniments such as ragi papad, lai badi and bijouri.

Before the main course, a humble thali, I tucked into a bowl of dal-farra. The comforting, brothy dish features whole toor dal cooked until just al dente, with rice flour dumplings, finished with chopped onion, chilli, tomato and fresh coriander. If there is such a thing as OG vegan food, India has been making it for centuries.

Chef Harshita agrees. “Having tea without milk or cooking without dairy wasn’t a choice. It was a way of life because many forest communities simply didn’t have access to milk. Likewise, they don’t celebrate World Millet Day as a one-off event — millets are their staple. Living in the forest, I realised ragi comes in many varieties. Until then, I thought it was just one millet,” she says.

As part of its culinary innovation programme, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre regularly collaborates with chefs and specialists from across India to showcase regional cuisines and lesser-known food traditions. With Forest & Fire, the spotlight is on India’s indigenous food cultures, an area that remains largely unexplored in mainstream dining.

The menu features dishes such as mahua mushroom bao, van shaak ravioli, hay-smoked fish, kala mutton taco, patrapoda jackfruit, Saoji chicken, junglee mutton and bamboo bhurji, alongside traditional grains, regional breads and desserts inspired by forest produce.

“The dishes I prepare reflect a deep connection to the land, highlighting ingredients and flavours that have shaped India’s culinary landscape for centuries,” says Harshita.

Known for documenting and reviving indigenous food traditions over the past 22 years, Harshita has built a reputation for creating immersive dining experiences that blend storytelling, sustainability and gastronomy. Her culinary philosophy celebrates local communities, preserves traditional knowledge systems and brings lesser-known regional cuisines into contemporary conversations.

Much of Forest & Fire is rooted in her years living in Pench. Watching the forests transform with the seasons made her more aware of the ingredients that appeared and disappeared with nature's rhythms. "I began learning about these ingredients from the people of the forest. The first thing I learnt was how versatile mahua is — how to cook with it, pickle it and preserve it," she says.

That curiosity soon extended beyond a single ingredient. From the many varieties of ragi to wild herbs foraged from the forest, every lesson deepened her understanding of indigenous food systems. One principle, however, stayed with her above all else.

“The people of the forest only took what they needed,” she says.

Forest & Fire dinner buffet is on at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre is on till July 26, 7pm–11pm, ₹2,799++ per person, Veg thali ₹1,200per person, non-veg thali ₹1,400, per person. Dinner only.