The Kurichya is a warrior tribe of Wayanad known for their amazing archery skills. Until recently, they used to hunt in the woods for their food. They build their huts closer to each other and live as a community. Like most tribal people, there was a time when the Kurichya tribe, too, faced many challenges to acquire enough food for their people.
Millet is abundantly grown in the forests by this tribe. They then powder it and make a delicious dish called 'pittu' with it. This dish hardly has any similarity in taste and texture with the 'puttu' that we are familiar with.
The millet is powdered using special stone equipment called the 'muthari kallu.' Another circular stone, with a hole in its centre and a handle placed above it. The millets are dropped through the hole in the centre and the stone equipment is moved in circular motion using the handle. The millet gets powdered fine enough to make pittu. The powder required for the dish is prepared fresh just before cooking it.
Water and salt are added as required to the millet powder. This mixture is then stirred continuously until it is thickened. When it is thick and has acquired a consistency similar to that of hot halwa, millet pittu is ready to be served.
There is a special way in which the pittu is served. The plantain leaves are placed only after everyone sits down to eat. A certain quantity of pittu is served in all the plantain leaves first. The next round is served only after making sure that equal quantities of the dish has been served on all the plantain leaves. There is even a popular saying in Wayanad, "like the Kurichya serves the pittu," which honours this tradition of the tribe.
