<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859–1"> Few thorough ethnographic studies on Central Indian tribal communities exist and the elaborate discussion on the cultural meanings of Indian food systems ignores these societies altogether. Food epitomizes the social for the Gadaba of Orissa. In investigating the complex paths of ritual practices this study aims to understand the interrelated fields of cosmology, social order and economy of an Indian highland community.