Gastronomic Appropriation and Legal Silences: The Case of Pithla-Bhakri in Maharashtra’s Agrarian Communities

Abstract

Pithla - Bhakri one of the world regions most iconic dishes evolved among the Bahujan and agrarian communities of rural Maharashtra between the 13th and 16th. For decades this dish was considered a dish for the poor and for the labour class. In the recent years however it has undergone a massive change considering the health benefits or looking at the health benefits and now it has been rebranded as an authentic dish from the Maharashtrian heritage cuisine. In the current scenario the dish is seen in various upscale restaurant menus in popular cookbooks and on tourism circuits which focuses on gourmet tourism. Today this dish commands premier pricing due to its growing demand in the consumer for the high fibre low Glycemic millets. This simple preparation which is made from jawar or Bajra and Gram flour now costs as much as a single person's full days agriculture wage sometimes even exceeding it while still remaining a daily substance among the very communities that created this dish decades ago. This article aims to theorise the shift of the popularity of this dish from a bare sustenance to a gastronomic appropriation. This article aims to show the process of how the knowledge of these marginalised communities is modified and absorbed into the commercial narratives while The history behind the narrative that shaped this dish is systematically erased. This article discusses 2 arguments the first which is grounded in the culture the heritage and the gastro - politics where it re-evaluates the cleansing of the history of the very dish that it claims to celebrate. Second the article tries to demonstrate the relevant legal frameworks in India including the geographical indications the traditional knowledge practice protection the international IP instruments the biodiversity laws which render the culinary appropriation invisible to law. Drawing on comparative models from Karnataka, the United States, and Australia, and articulating a corrective-justice framework for community recognition and benefit-sharing, the article proposes targeted statutory reforms while treating legal recognition as necessary but not sufficient for cultural justice.