Foodies, grab your plate of authentic tribal food.

Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon on Sunday formally launched Jharkhand Thali, the first signature platter by state tourism department to give a tasty twist to this region at The Kav's on Harmu Road.

Presented traditionally on sal leaves set on silver plates, the feast inspired from tribal households included dhuska, aloo chana sabji, lal saag, kurthi dal, dupki, among others in the veg platter and mutton ka jhol and dehati chicken as attractions in its non-veg counterpart. Dudh pitha and dudhiya were sweet endings.

Though the event was forced to be low-key due to the demise of former governor Syed Ahmed in Mumbai on Sunday, guests enjoyed the spread.

Tourism director Suchitra Sinha, one of the pioneers behind Jharkhand Thali, said she was pleased that the state now had a thali just like others. "I thank everyone in the state who helped us serve the first thali," she smiled.

On how it all started, she said: "In 2011, posted in Delhi as joint director of industries department, at a trade fair at Pragati Maidan, we had hired hotel Ashoka to serve Jharkhand cuisine at the food court, but I noticed they dished out chole bhature, dosa, litti chokha. It personally hurt me because our state has wonderful tribal food."

At places like Dilli Haat, almost all states had food stalls except Jharkhand, she rued.

Coming to Jharkhand as tourism director this April, Sinha came across a "200-page book by Mukund Nayak (folk artiste) with many nuggets on food and tribal cuisine".

"Someone told me about Capitol Residency too, saying they experiment with authentic tribal food. That's when things took shape," she said.

They formed a six-member expert panel on tribal culture and history to devise a menu. "It took us three rounds of tastings for authentic taste and finalise servings," she said.