Chhaang

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Chhyang or Chhaang - Fermented rice drink! (8902831091).jpg
Nepalese chhaang brewed from rice
Type Rice beer
Region of originFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China (Tibet)
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal
IngredientsRice
Related products Tongba

Chhaang or chhyang (Tibetan : ཆང་, Wylie : chang, Nepali : छ्याङ, Newar : थो:) is a Nepalese and Tibetan alcoholic beverage popular in parts of the eastern Himalayas among the Yakkha, Limbu, Dura, Newar, Sunuwar, Rai, Bhutia, Gurung, Magar, Sherpa, Tamang, Tharus and Lepcha communities. Among the Lepcha, it is called Chi. [1] It is also known as jaarh in Nepal. [2]

Contents

Geographical prevalence

Tongba: Limbu style, hot millet beer Tongba - Nepalese fermented millet beer.jpg
Tongba: Limbu style, hot millet beer

Chhaang is consumed by the ethnically Tibetan, Ladakhi and Nepalese, and to a lesser degree, by the people of the neighboring nations of Pakistan and Bhutan. It is usually drunk at room temperature in summer, but is often served piping-hot in brass bowls or wooden mugs when the weather is colder. The Limbu people of eastern Nepal call the drink Tongba. [3] [4]

Ingredients and drinking

A commercially produced Tibetan chang brewed from barley Chang Tibetan barley wine.jpg
A commercially produced Tibetan chang brewed from barley
A metal beaker of home-brewed Chhaang Chhaang.jpg
A metal beaker of home-brewed Chhaang

Chhaang is a relative of beer. Barley, millet (finger-millet) or rice grains are used to brew the drink. Semi-fermented seeds of millet are served, stuffed in a barrel of bamboo called a dhungro. Boiling water is then poured in and sipped through a narrow-bore bamboo tube called a pipsing.

When the boiled barley has cooled, some yeast or dried barm is added and it is left to stand for two or three days after fermentation begins. This concoction is called glum. The barm consists of flour and, in Balti, often has ginger and aconite added to it. [5] :341 After fermentation is complete, water is added to the brew and it is then ready for consumption. [6]

In Lahaul the glum is pressed out by hand instead of by filtering, yielding a rather cloudy drink. The residue of malt can be pressed through a strainer and then mixed with water or milk and used in baking bread or cakes. [5] :154

Near Mount Everest of Nepal, chhaang is made by passing hot water through fermenting barley, and is then served in a large pot and drunk through a wooden straw. [7]

This beverage is similar to the traditional drink of the Limbus, mandokpenaa thee. [8]

Nepalese jand refers to the turbid liquor which is obtained by leaching out the extract with water from the fermented mash. Unlike chhang or tongba, jand is served in large mugs. These alcoholic beverages are generated using a traditional starter called murcha. Murcha itself is prepared by using yeast and mold flora of wild herbs in cereal flours. [9]

Aconite and potential toxicity

Aconitum ferox, the most toxic of the Aconitum spp. native to the Himalayan region Aconitum ferox - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-005.jpg
Aconitum ferox , the most toxic of the Aconitum spp. native to the Himalayan region
Aconitum carmichaelii , another local species added to Chhaang Aconitum carmichaelii var. wilsonii 002.JPG
Aconitum carmichaelii , another local species added to Chhaang

The plant name Aconite may refer to two plant genera in the family Ranunculaceae, namely Aconitum and Eranthis , although Eranthis is known more usually as Winter Aconite. The plants used in the brewing of Chhaang in Baltistan and Ladakh are, however, almost certainly referable to Aconitum species - notably the local Aconitum ferox - which have a long history of use in the folk medicinal systems of Asia. [10] [11] Aconitum species are amongst the most virulently poisonous plants known, containing a variety of extremely toxic alkaloids, including aconitine and pseudaconitine.

The use of Aconitum as an additive in beer-brewing is therefore a practice fraught with the danger of fatal poisoning and should on no account be undertaken by any individual attempting to replicate a traditional Chhaang recipe. Although individual Aconitum species vary somewhat in the degree of their toxicity, all are poisonous and, when used in traditional herbal medicine, are invariably pre-treated in various ways intended to minimise their toxicity, while retaining their assumed therapeutic properties. Nevertheless, numerous fatalities have occurred resulting from such medicinal use e.g. in certain Chinese medicinal soups consumed for their supposed tonic effects, which include augmenting physical strength, boosting the immune system, and dispelling 'wind' and 'dampness'. [12]

Culture

Chhaang is said to be the best remedy to ward off the severe cold of the mountains. It reputedly has many healing properties for conditions like the common cold, fevers, allergic rhinitis, and alcoholism among others.

According to legend, chhaang is also popular with the Yeti, or Himalayan Snowmen, who often raid isolated mountain villages to drink it. [13]

Social correlates

Drinking and making offerings of chhaang are part of many pan-Tibetan social and religious occasions, including settling disputes, welcoming guests, and wooing. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limbu people</span> Indigenous Yakthung group of Nepal , Sikkim

The Limbu (exonym) / Yakthung (endonym) or are a Sino-Tibetan ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Himalayan region of eastern Nepal, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, northern West Bengal, and western Bhutan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepcha people</span> Ethnic group of India, Nepal, and Bhutan

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Alcohol It is legal to produce upto 60 Litres of fermented beverage and distill 30 litres Raksi per year for personal consumption, but it's illegal to sell home-made Raksi spirit in Nepal. The mixed society coupled with caste and multiple ethnic results in an extremely complex social structure which also generally affects alcohol consumption among the people based on their background. There are mainly two types of people in Nepal depending on alcohol use. The group of people who do not drink or use alcohol are called Tagadhari (तगाधारी), and the other group who drink alcohol are called Matawali. Traditionally, the Brahmins and Kshatriyas are the Janai wearers and are forbidden from consuming alcohol, with the exception of Matwali Chhetris of Karnali region who are permitted to use alcohol. Alcohol also plays an important role in rituals, festivals and religious ceremonies. Matwalis largely use alcohol for their traditional purposes and generally brew alcohol by themselves. Peoples such as the Tharu, Kirati people, Magar, Gurung, Tamang, and Newars preserve these practices.

References

  1. "Chhang: The Beer of the Himalayas". Live History India. 28 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  2. The Rough Guide to Nepal, Apa Publications (UK), 2018 ISBN   1786719975.
  3. Sarda, Kritika (28 May 2017). "Chhaang: The Beer of the Himalayas". LiveStoryIndia. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  4. Shashi Bala Singh (4 February 2010). "Chhang - A barley based alcoholic beverage of Ladakh, India". Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 11 (1): 190–193.
  5. 1 2 Jaschke, H. Ä. A Tibetan-English Dictionary. (1881). Reprint: (1987). Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. ISBN   81-208-0321-3.
  6. Das, Sarat Chandra. (1902). Lhasa and Central Tibet, p. 23 and note. Reprint: (1988). Mehra Offset Press, Delhi.
  7. Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) Tibet. 6th Edition, p. 75. ISBN   1-74059-523-8.
  8. P.75 Handbook of Plant-Based Fermented Food and Beverage Technology, Second Edition By Y. H. Hui, E. Özgül Evranuz CRC Press, 17 May 2012
  9. J. David Owens (Editor) Indigenous Fermented Foods of Southeast Asia (2014) , p. 142, at Google Books
  10. Singhuber, Judith; Zhu, Ming; Prinz, Sonja; Kopp, Brigitte (29 October 2009). "Aconitum in Traditional Chinese Medicine—A valuable drug or an unpredictable risk?". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 126 (1). Elsevier: 18–30. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.07.031. PMID   19651200 . Retrieved 11 August 2020. Aconitum species have been used in China as an essential drug in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for 2000 years.
  11. "Aconite (fu zi)". Acupuncture Today. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  12. Chan, TY (2014). "Aconitum alkaloid poisoning related to the culinary uses of aconite roots". Toxins (Basel). 6 (9): 2605–11. doi: 10.3390/toxins6092605 . PMC   4179150 . PMID   25184557.
  13. "Yeti: The Snow-Man". Travel Journey. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  14. "Bhutanese" . Retrieved 5 October 2014.