Tribals of Chhattisgarh sell Tikhur (Curcuma angustifolia) sweet red ant or Chapda chinti ki chutney, keukand (Costus speciosus) and sarso pickles at Tribal Food Festival in Delhi.
The tribals catch the soldier ants, also called red ants, mainly found on trees and eat them along with their eggs, either raw or cooked.
The sight of a column of soldier ants can frighten anyone, but for the tribals of Chhattisgarh, these ants indicate a good meal.
Tribal elders believe red ants have medicinal qualities. Tribal people, who cannot afford a regular protein diet, often consume adult ants in the form of chutney. For the chutney, ants are mashed up with salt, red chillies and mustard oil, and are eaten with stale rice.
Some shops in village markets stock soldier ants, as they are much in demand.
Hunting for nests of soldier ants is a favourite pastime for youngsters, who scout dense forests for ants of "good" quality.
Soldier ants are small and coppery-brown in colour, especially around the head and body, with a darker abdomen. They come at a variety of sizes within a single nest, ranging from 2 mm to 6 mm.
These ants do not have a stinger, but inflict a painful bite, which is aggravated by irritating chemicals (formic acids) that is secreted from their abdomen.
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The collection comprises of 150, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, XDCAM and 4K. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world...
Please subscribe to our channel wildfilmsindia on Dailymotion for a steady stream of videos from across India. Also, visit and enjoy your journey across India at www.clipahoy.com , India's first video-based social networking experience!
Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com
Like & Follow Us on: m
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WildernessFilmsIndiaLimited
Website: www.wildfilmsindia.com
