Bugs on your plate: Bengaluru's Krishi Mela serves up insect menu

The recently concluded Krishi Mela in Bengaluru offered a glimpse of what the future of food might look like. Spread across a table were a queen termite wedged between burger buns, silkworm pupae floating in soup, and trays of cockroach pakodas and grasshopper kebabs. The unusual menu also featured a mealworm-topped pizza, red ant chutney, and deep-fried crickets.

The exhibit, presented by the department of entomology, College of Agriculture, UAS, GKVK, elicited more “disgust” than curiosity. Harshini N, MSc student and one of the three presenters, says, “People walked past saying things like ‘India is heading the China way’. They were especially put off by the cockroach pakodas,” she shares. Only a few were intrigued enough to ask for a serving of silkworm pupal manchurian, and mealworm cake. The display, however, was meant purely to raise awareness about alternative food sources, not for tasting.

Over a decade ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognised insects as an untapped nutritional resource that could help tackle growing food insecurity. And insect eating — entomophagy — is more widespread than most assume. In India alone, over 300 insect species are consumed by tribal communities across 10 states, according to a presentation by Bengaluru’s Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (Atree).

Closer home, Jemla Naik D, entomology department head of UAS, GKVK, notes that red ant chutney is popular in Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, and Hassan. “Flying termites are in high demand during the rains in Kolar and Doddaballapura, while queen termites are sought year-round for their nutritional value,” he says. As the world’s population grows, insects offer a nutritious substitute for non-vegetarians, he adds.

Atree itself has been distributing cricket-infused choco chips, and chilli garlic crickets at events since 2018. “People love the chilli garlic crickets. It tastes like chilli prawns,” says Atree entomologist Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan.

At Bagalur-based Farmlore, chef and cofounder Johnson Ebenezer has been serving red ants as part of a tasting menu for “people who come with open minds”. He starts with ‘ant bite’, a rice crisp tart layered with a chutney of red ants, burnt onions, tomatoes, and chillies. He offers a sorbet topped with fried ants as a palate cleanser. He collects these ants from the mango tree, which, he says, lends a natural astringency. He suspects that ants harvested from mulberry trees might offer a sweeter note.

Policy hurdles

According to Rajan, countries like Singapore, Taiwan, and those in the European Union have made policy changes to promote entomophagy, and today, cricket powder is in high demand as a protein supplement. “However, India’s Biodiversity Act has a list of species that can be traded legally, and most edible insects aren’t on it. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India also has no norms for selling insects as packaged foods.” 

Yet the biggest hurdle may be perception. Even the UAS, GKVK students who prepared the dishes sampled only a few themselves. “I tried silkworm manchurian. It tasted just like gobhi manchurian. The red ant chutney was sour,” says Harshini.