One has the texture of fish and potato; another that looks like little sticks; and there is a variety that weighs over 50 kilograms: India boasts a fascinating array of tubers.
You may cook with just a handful, most likely potato, yam, taro, and sweet potato. But in Joida, a town in Karnataka, there are around 50 varieties of tubers. “If we were to do a study of tubers across India, I’m sure there will be more than a hundred,” says Sumeet Kaur of Bengaluru-based Spudnik Farms, which supported by ICAR-Central Tuber Crop Research Institute, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Rainmatter Foundation, is preparing for Rooting for Tubers, a day-long celebration of the crop.
