Chhaang or chhyang (, ne, छ्याङ, new, थो:) is a

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

ese and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

also popular in parts of the eastern

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

, Yakkha,

Limbu Limbu may refer to: * Limbu people, an indigenous tribe living in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan ** Rambahadur Limbu (born 1939), Nepalese Gurkha recipient of the Victoria Cross * Limbu language * Limbu script ** Limbu (Unicode block) Limbu is a Unicod ...

Dura Dura may also refer to: Đura such as, for example, Đura Bajalović Geography * Dura language, a critically endangered language of Nepal * Dura, Africa, an ancient city and former bishopric, now a Catholic titular see * Dura-Europos, an ancient c ...

Newar Newar (; new, नेवार, endonym: Newa; new, नेवा, Pracalit script:) or Nepami, are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation ...

Sunuwar The Sunuwar or Koinch (; ''Sunuwār Jāti'') is a Kirati tribe native to Nepal, parts of India (West Bengal and Sikkim) and southern Bhutan. They speak the Sunuwar language. According to the 2001 census of Nepal, 17% of the tribe follow the ...

, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sherpa, Tamang and Lepcha communities. Among the Lepcha, it is called Chi. It is also known as jaarh in Nepal.

Geographical prevalence

Chhaang is consumed by ethnically

an and

ese, and to a lesser degree, by the neighboring nations of India, 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 The Limbu (exonym) or Yakthung (endonym) are a Sino-Tibetan indigenous tribe (Bhot-Burmeli) of the Himalayan region of eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and western Bhutan. The original name of the Limbu is ''Yakthung'' () or ''Yakthum''. Limbu males ar ...

of eastern Nepal call the drink Tongba.

Ingredients and drinking

''Chhaang'' is a relative of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...

Barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets ...

(finger-millet) or

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

grains are used to brew the drink. Semi- fermented seeds of millet are served, stuffed in a barrel of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

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 Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to consti ...

or dried

barm Barm is the foam or scum formed on the top of a fermenting liquid, such as beer, wine, or feedstock for spirits or industrial ethanol distillation. It is used to leaven bread, or set up fermentation in a new batch of liquor. Barm, as a leaven, h ...

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 Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

and aconite added to it.Jaschke, H. Ä. ''A Tibetan-English Dictionary''. (1881). Reprint: (1987). Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. . After fermentation is complete, water is added to the brew and it is then ready for consumption. In Lahaul the ''glum'' is pressed out by hand instead of by filtering, yielding a rather cloudy drink. The residue of

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, ...

can be pressed through a strainer and then mixed with water or milk and used in

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

bread or cakes. Near

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

, ''chhaang'' is made by passing hot water through fermenting barley, and is then served in a large pot and drunk through a wooden

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a numbe ...

. This beverage is similar to the traditional drink of the

Limbus Limbus (Lat. "edge, boundary") may refer to: * Corneal limbus, the border of the cornea and the sclera (the white of the eye) * Limbus of fossa ovalis, in the heart * Limbus 3 and Limbus 4, two line-ups of a German avant-garde musical group * Li ...

, ''mandokpenaa thee''. 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

and mold flora of wild

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

s in cereal

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...

Aconite and potential toxicity

The plant name Aconite may refer to two plant genera in the family

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are '' Ranunculus'' (600 species), '' Delphiniu ...

, 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, which have a long history of use in the folk medicinal systems of Asia. 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'.

Myth

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,

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...

allergic rhinitis Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, ...

, and

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

among others. According to legend, chhaang is also popular with the

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

wooing Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private ...

References

{{Indian beverages Rice wine Alcohol in Nepal Bhutanese cuisine Indian drinks Nepalese drinks Pakistani drinks Tibetan cuisine Fermented drinks Types of beer

Geographical prevalence

Ingredients and drinking

Aconite and potential toxicity

Myth

See also

References