In June 2026, Jharkhand Tourism shared a social-media video of Gordon Ramsay tasting the state’s red-ant chutney, describing his reaction as “absolutely delicious”. The clip brought fresh attention to a food that may look unusual to an outsider but has long been part of Indigenous diets across eastern, central and northeastern India.
For communities living around forests in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh, the red weaver ant is not something encountered as a culinary dare. It can be food, a seasonal forest resource, a traditional medicinal ingredient and, in some places, something that can be sold in local markets.
And there is no single red-ant chutney.
The same species appears in different food traditions, carrying different names, recipes and meanings depending on where you are.
The ingredient is the red weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina.
Demta and Hau in Jharkhand
In Jharkhand, red-ant chutney is known by local names including Hau, while Demta is also used in some communities. The ants and their eggs are collected from tree nests and prepared with ingredients such as chillies, salt, garlic, ginger and coriander.
The chutney is eaten with everyday foods rather than reserved as a novelty. Local accounts describe it being served with maaru-bhaat, puffed rice and vegetables.
Bastar has its Chapda
Travel west into Chhattisgarh, and the preparation takes another name.
Red-ant chutney is particularly associated with Gond communities and is commonly known as Chapda, Chhapra or Chapura, depending on the locality.
A 2024 review in Nature journal, “Bio-economic potential of ethno-entomophagy and its therapeutics in India,” documents the consumption of red ants among tribal communities in Chhattisgarh and notes that red-ant chutney is popular among Gond communities.
The same review records red ants being consumed across several districts of Odisha, including Koraput, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj. They may be roasted, eaten with rice, or fried with salt, chillies, spices and mustard oil.
Bengal has Kurkut
The tradition becomes particularly interesting when it reaches Jhargram in West Bengal.
A 2020 study titled “On the Use of Red Ant Oecophylla smaragdina by the Indigenous People of Binpur, Jhargram, West Bengal,” by Atanu Mitra, Angsuman Chanda and Srimanta Kumar Raut, documented the practice in the Purnapani and Jorum forests of Binpur.
The researchers had been visiting tribal settlements in the area since 1994, documenting how local people collected, prepared and used ants.
Here, the red weaver ant is locally called Kurkut.
What looks like one dish from a distance is actually a network of regional food traditions shaped by forests, seasons and local knowledge. Photograph: (IndiaToday)
The study found that Indigenous people collected the ants and larvae between September and February, when large numbers of nests could be found in trees. The insects were used as food, medicine, and a commercial product.
The recipe offers another glimpse of how local knowledge changes with geography.
Researchers recorded a chutney made by grinding the ants with chilli, mint, onion, ginger, garlic, cumin, mustard oil and salt. Another preparation involved pounding the ants with onion, chilli, mustard oil and salt. It was eaten with rice for two or three days. Some families also boiled the ants and ate them directly.
In Mayurbhanj, it is Kai
In Mayurbhanj, Odisha, the red weaver ant is known as Kai, and the preparation is Kai Chutney.
Here, the tradition has received formal recognition. On 2 January 2024, Similipal Kai Chutney of Odisha received a Geographical Indication registration. The official Intellectual Property India database lists the Mayurbhanj Kai Society Limited as the applicant and records the product as a registered food product from Odisha.
Further east, it is Tonge and Babuk
The tradition does not end in eastern India.
In Arunachal Pradesh, Oecophylla smaragdina is one of the preferred edible insects among tribal communities.
The ant is locally known by names including Tonge and Babuk, and both adult ants and larvae are consumed.
One ant, several food cultures
Put these regions together, and the map looks different.
Hau or Demta in Jharkhand. Chapda in Chhattisgarh. Kai in Odisha. Kurkut in Jhargram. Tonge or Babuk in Arunachal Pradesh.
The clip brought fresh attention to a food that may look unusual to an outsider but has long been part of Indigenous diets. Photograph: (Image enhanced with AI)
The names change. So do the recipes and the communities that prepare them. What remains is the red weaver ant and a body of knowledge about collecting it, preparing it, and using it.
That brings the story back to Gordon Ramsay.
His reaction makes for a compelling social-media moment. But for generations, Indigenous people have known where these ants build their nests, when they are available, how to collect them, and how to turn them into food.
