Food and nutrition security is a building block for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 along with SDG 3 and 6 (Box 1). According to the Global hunger index, India ranks 94 among 107 countries with a score of 27.2. This shows the seriousness of nutritional deficiencies among the people of India. people of India. The problem becomes huge in the case of marginalized communities mainly schedules caste and tribes, who are living in scarce conditions. economic development, health status, and poverty. Due to diverse biophysical environments and limitations in socio-economic development, it is a challenge for Himalayan communities also, although the region is rich in agricultural ecology and biodiversity. Uttarakhand is a hill state, situated in central Himalaya and can be differentiated from other areas based on topography, geographic features, flora and fauna, land use system, and socioeconomic conditions. Due to this, the lifestyle of the people residing here also differs. The state comes under zone II among Agro-climatic zones in the Himalayan region. The state is further divided into different zones and Almora district comes under zone C among agroclimatic zones of Uttarakhand, where the farming situation is a high hill, the soil is red to dark and rainfall distribution is 1200-2500 mm/year. There are different types of traditional crops like cereals, millets, pulses, oilseeds; vegetables that are being cultivated in the region. Many of these crops are also identified as superfoods, which were earlier known as neglected and underutilized species (NUS). But the people are taking less interest in their cultivation. That’s why food insecurity exists in the region. Diversification of food recipes is a major specialty of the region. There are many recipes used as a substitute for items, which are meagrely produced in the region.

In the present study, 5 villages of Almora namely Katarmal, Hawalbagh, Shyona, Panch gav and Matela was selected. The demographic and food frequency questionnaire were conducted for understanding their living status and eating behaviour. Through general demographic survey, it was observed that the people are moving away from agriculture as only 31 per cent SC people are engaged in this among all the selected villages. The main reason described were human-animal conflict and low rainfall which are discouraging them to go for agriculture except few crops which can be grown in less water but mainly for their own consumption. During FFQ survey in the year 2017, 56 % people from marginalized community has responded that they use chulhas over gas stove, while in the year 2020 their percentage was decreased to 19%. The percentage of people using both chulha and gas stove had increased to 64% from 11% in the year 2017. This shows the positive effect of Ujjwala yojana.

The nutritional composition of food prepared using horse gram (gahat), black soybean (bhat), rice bean (rains), and barnyard millet (jhangora) and consumed by the stakeholders were analysed following standard methods. Cuisines made up of black soybean has highest amount of protein among all the recipes. Very less reduction of protein was observed in case of recipes prepared using horsegram as raw ingredient. Ricebean recipes have high amount of carbohydrate among all the cuisines. Total fat is highest in gahat ke dubke, while recipes made up of black soybean have high amount of total fat among all the recipes. Bhat ka jaula has highest amount of potassium. Iron content is highest in gahat ki chatni. As per table 4, all the selected cuisines are equally nutritious in terms of selected parameters. There is a significant variation among the cuisines in terms of ash content, total fat, potassium, tannin content, FRAP activity. Although the variation is not significant for most f the parameters among the recipes as shown in the heat map. The stakeholders informed that the cause of less interest in eating traditional cuisine is easy availability of food grains from ration system and interest of younger generation towards fast food and other easily available food items. It was also suggested by the stakeholders that Millet and pseudo cereal ingredient (known as superfoods) based traditional food may be promoted through ICDS and PDS programs. It was observed that there is need to look towards the integrated approach for understanding relation among livelihood, tourism, and regional foods.

Major outcomes
Cuisines made up of black soybean has highest amount of protein and fat among all the recipes. Ricebean recipes have highest amount of carbohydrate among all the cuisines. Bhat ka jaula has highest amount of potassium. Iron content is highest in gahat ki chatni.
The traditional cuisines were found rich in vitamin. The fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin D3 and vitamin E were observed in the range of 0.011-0.006 g/100 g dry sample weight and 0.027-0.6 g/100 g dry sample weight respectively. The analysed food samples can easily fulfil the daily nutritional requirement if consumed on a daily basis.