Brewing beer and memories
Aliya and her cousins were travelling back from Delhi to their hometown in Arunachal Pradesh. Aliya had bought her naniapiya (father's elder sister) a jewellery box from Janpath and a set of flavoured beer from a shop in Safdarjung, an area famous for Northeastern cuisine. As they sat on the bamboo floor exchanging pleasantries Aliya's naniapiya was mixing rice spreaded on a tarpaulin sheet with an aluminium ladle.
Exchange of Gifts and Flavored Yu
Naniapiya. Ini mein nu gebane aecha gifts lowada. Aathu. Ohh. Aecha kesha mein taando! Thank you ah. Aecha aesya? Yu hunji aathu da. Aecha mein flavoured yu dumo. Yu ajihone nu aecha ma fruit flavour aetehone ichibu topra mein taando baida. Aathu aecha Kiwi chi, aecha mango flavour.
Naniapiya. We have bought gifts for you. Please have a look. Ohh. These are beautiful. Thank you dear. What is this? This looks like Yu. Yes it is. It is a set of flavoured yu (rice beer). When the rice beer is made it is mixed with fruit syrup and fruits flavours and then we can drink delicious flavoured fruit beer. See this one is made up of Kiwi, and this one is a mango flavoured drink.
The Tradition of Communal Brewing
As naniapiya nods at the explanation she cannot help but remember how the process of brewing yu used to be a household chore which connected households through barter system and merrymaking. Yu is seen as a necessary part of village and community festivities. Local glutinous rice cultivated in the farm is half boiled along with red rice. Naniapiya says the red rice is Mishinge jijiko. The name of this variant of red rice might have been derived from an indigenous collection of rice of the species Oryza sativa, known as Jijiko from Tirap district.
Another possibility is another type of variant found in Lohit district which is nearer to their district of Lower Dibang Valley. The name of the variant is Jijikong (Ahu) of the same species. One of the ways in exchange in rice varieties and names could have been a result of weekly markets held in villages and barter system.
Preparing the Rice and Yeast Cakes
As the local white rice is half boiled and mixed with the red rice it produces a nutty, starchy aroma. The rice is spreaded evenly on a carpet until it has cooled down substantially. Then the Pa is broken down into fine powder and mixed with the rice. Pa is a rice cake consisting of yeast that will help the rice to ferment. It is made out of uncooked rice paste which is mixed with old rice cakes consisting of yeast or local herbs which fastens the fermentation. These small rice cakes are shaped into small disks which can be stored for months.
Naniapiya's Idu Mishmi Recollections
Nga ichikihi ho nani so paku ne inane, oko ma pehiyo, pa ajigai chi. Pa ajite hiyo, aashunu ma brushutu aehiyo, aaya gibene aamegaichida. Aaya ho Pa khege ma prage lagaichi, aechaho Pa amuni babuda. Hu chi hone khepetya chiyada. Nga ichiga bihitone Bizari iiho, ayahobu nga aatiko chi nani aalombro so inyime pa ajigai da. Pa aji hone jigaiho ini yaku alombro mein jipa jeene oko chi lagaiji, aatiko chi, anapra chi lagaiji. Baha chi taju bu lagaiji, aai aene jigachida.
Buge mein ini mein Bizari ne Pa ajite hayo Dambuk ma amewdane aagugaichida. Nga hone, ichibu nani khe kani hone Dambuk bojaar aagugaichida. Bojare pa aakhahogaicha imu mein taando pa lowdane ini maanu ma dega banaba. Ini chi pa wa mosa alombro mein londogahiba. Baha aashunuge pa amehiyo, aaga kani kiku gine aegaichim.
Market Days and Adi Tribe Encounters
"When I was young Whenever we used to return from our fields we would start making pa. We would make enough that could be stored in our baskets and sell it in the markets, some people used to come at home to buy it and we would also visit houses in our village. The cost of selling one pa was 1 Rs. Now it has increased to 10 Rs. When I got married I had to shift to my husband's village which is Bizari. I used to make pa along with the village nani (mothers). We used to talk about our households, childhood, food and much more. Then after we made and filled our baskets with pa we would go to the market which was at Dambuk. One day as we went to the market, we opened our baskets and displayed our pa for customers and suddenly all the people in the market surrounded us. It was so crowded. Hands jutting out money in exchange of a dozen pa. It was amusing. Most of our customers were Adi (another tribe residing in Siang, East Siang, Upper Siang, West Siang, Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit districts). Maybe because most of them lived in Dambuk too.
In the olden days mothers would fill baskets of pa and travel to villages and markets in the morning. By evening they would return back with two baskets of grains and pulses."
The Physics of Fermentation and Healing
After Pa is mixed with the rice it is evenly spread again. When the rice cools down it is stored in aluminium or steel beakers. The speed of the fermentation process usually depends on the temperature and season. During winter season it takes more than two weeks for the rice to be properly fermented while in summer the process may be completed in a week.
Yu as a Social Connection and Simple Pleasure
People believe drinking Yu in small quantities help in regulating low blood pressure and digestion. Although Yu is harmful when consumed heavily, it is also an integral process of traditional cooking technique. Rice beer, Apong, Zutho, Chuwak, Yu whatever the name be it has connected several people with love and appreciation for tribal cooking and culture. When resources were scarce and means of leisure almost none, drinking Yu and sharing stories, enjoying some hours before lulling into sleep was a social outlet for men and women alike to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
