Khar: A Cornerstone of Assamese Cooking

Khar, an ancient ingredient that is irreplaceable in Assamese cooking, brings another dimension of flavour to the table.

Alkalinity and its relevance in Assamese Cuisine

Colleen Taylor Sen, renowned culinary historian, wrote in her book Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India, that Assamese cuisine is the only regional Indian cuisine that has preserved the six tastes of ancient Hindu gastronomy. Alkalinity is what distinguishes Assamese cuisine from the rest of India. 

This alkalinity comes from khar, an additive that is exclusive to northeast India. Khar is celebrated as an ingredient for both its nutritive properties as well as its role in culturally significant customs and rituals across Assam. Khar-making is serious business, and every matriarch worth her salt approaches it with diligence and rigour.

Khar’s Origins and Evolution

Khar is a liquid, dark brown in colour, with a strong astringent smell. It can be made in large batches and stored for several months, to be used throughout the year. It is believed that the month of Kartik and Ahin are the most suitable months to make khar. Although khar-making is serious business, the procedure itself is relatively simple. 

Khar is typically made from the ashes of banana peel. The banana, Musa balbisiana, is native to some parts of southeast Asia. In India, it is found in the northeastern states, and often in the wild. Musa balbisiana is a wild species, and an ancestor to modern bananas. Unlike regular bananas, Musa balbisiana is full of seeds which makes eating it a nuisance. However, it is one of the traditional first foods of Assam where it is called bhim kol/ aathiya kol, and fed to infants. As an introduction to solid foods, slices of ripe bhim kol are dried, powdered and then fed to babies along with water or milk.

However, in making khar, only the peels of ripe bhim kol are used. The peels are sundried in batches and often kept in cool, airtight containers. Whenever the need for Khar arises, these dried peels are burnt to collect the ashes. The next step is to filter pure water through the ashes overnight. As the water filters through, it becomes dark brown and acquires an astringent aroma.

Dried aathiya kol peels
Image credit: Puspanjalee Das Dutta

According to Jayamai Dutta, khar can also be made from the skins of black gram. “But kolakhar is the best khar anyone can make and eat!”

The Making of Khar

There are several techniques and tools used to make khar. In lower Assam for example, the stems and bark of papaya trees are used to make khar. Kamala Das says that growing up in lower Assam, her grandmother would cut a papaya tree and an aathiya kol tree when the monsoon retreated. She would then sundry them for 10-15 days during the month of Kartik (October-November), and burn them to make the ashes. The ashes would be stored and used for different occasions. Mrs Das also shared memories of using khar made from papaya ashes as detergent, to wash clothes and linen. Her grandmother would also use khar to wash her hair and certain bell metal utensils. The khar made from the banana tree, on the other hand, would be used in cooking and to cure common ailments because of its antibacterial and antiseptic properties. When ailing with the common cold and cough, khar is consumed, as well as rubbed over the body to control body heat.

Most importantly, khar was a substitute for salt in ancient times. Assam is a landlocked state, far away from the coast. Naturally, there was a shortage of sea salt in this region. However, proximity to the Himalayas ensured access to rock salt in certain places. But these salt mines were heavily guarded and protected by hill tribes. There are numerous incidents, scattered through Assam's history, around the power struggle between hill tribes and valley dwellers. Most of these struggles were centred around resources, salt mines being key among them. However, during the Ahom rule, a pact was made, to allowed tribes to come to the plain and use salt as a barter to obtain other necessary items.

Because of this, salt was available in small amounts, and mostly only the affluent had access to it. There is no exact timeframe to pinpoint when khar was first made, but there are mentions of khar in ancient scriptures like Yogini Tantra. Even now, if you go to a rural Bodo home, the cook would use liquid khar to cook vegetables and meat instead of common salt. The more potent the khar is, the more delicious the dish is. Sumitra Bodo, who runs a community culinary tourism centre near Manas National Park, says that khar is essential to Bodo cuisine. "We cook khar all the time,” he tells me.

Today sea salt is a common commodity in the region, and the use of khar is limited to certain dishes. Dakor Boson, an oral collection of anecdotes on Assamese society’s socio-cultural lives, suggests eating khar once a week. 

Incidentally, every dish made using this food additive is also called khar! For example, if the dish is made of black gram or matimah, it is called matimahor khar. You can make it with black gram, cabbage, green gram, a medley of vegetables, night jasmine, and even meat. In fact, Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna cooked papaya khar, one of the most popular khar items from Assam, for His Holiness Pope Francis. That is how much khar signifies Assam and its food.

Taste and Nutritional Value

But what does khar taste like? Khar, the raw liquid, has an astringent taste. My grandma would make us eat raw khar mixed with rice and a few drops of mustard oil when we were ill with a stomach ailment or cold. When cooked with other ingredients, khar improves the texture and lends the dish a piquancy. The texture of khar made with black gram, green gram or papaya is slimy, whereas fish khar, and cabbage khar retain their texture, merely adding a pungent taste and aroma.

When I asked Anjumani Talukdar, a researcher at Gauhati University, Guwahati, about the science behind khar, she explained that khar is full of essential nutrients needed for our body. “Khar contains minerals like potassium, sodium, iron, cobalt, manganese, nickel, zinc, and copper, which are essential for our health. Traditionally, khar made from banana peels are considered best, due to higher level of potassium and low level of sodium.”

Ms Talukdar also talked about dokhra khar, a variation of khar used in the Barpeta district of Assam. Unlike the liquid concoction used by the rest of Assam, dokhra khar is in solid form. In her research paper, Chemical Analysis of Traditional Food Additive Dokhora Khar Derived from Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), in the journal Current Nutrition & Food Science, Ms Talukdar analysed the chemical composition of the solid khar and found that potassium is the main element found in it, followed by calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, zinc etc. “I grew up in Barpeta and during my entire childhood, we would see people collecting water hyacinth and making solid khar from it. As a researcher, I wanted to know more about this additive, which is such an integral part of my food and my life.”

Ms Talukdar also shared the chemical reaction that goes into the making of khar. She said, “In preparation of kolakhar, dried banana peels (water hyacinth plant stems and leaves in case of dokhra khar) is burnt in open air and water is added to the ashes. During this process, soluble inorganic ingredients (minerals) present in ashes get dissolved in water. Analysis shows that the main ingredient present in the water extract is potassium carbonate (K2CO3). This soluble metal carbonate is the main chemical ingredient for the alkalinity in kolakhar. In the case of dokhra khar, the water is evaporated by heating. The residual of the evaporation is alkaline in nature and called dokhra khar.” 

Chef Rajiv Bora, owner of the restaurant Majulir Exaj in Guwahati remarked that khar was not just a salt substitute. “It was an all-in-one magic ingredient for the common people of Assam. They would use it as an antiseptic, antibacterial, detergent, home remedy and much more,” he explains.  

Khar is now a star item in restaurants that serve Assamese cuisine. Once the common man’s food, khar is now revered as the quintessential palate cleanser. Assamese food startups have now made it possible to buy bottled kolakhar all over India. You can procure a bottle of kolakhar and use it to bring alkalinity to your diet.

Khar cooked with papaya and black gram
Image credit: Puspanjalee Das Dutta

Recipe: Amita aaru Maati Mahor Khar (Khar cooked with papaya & black gram)

Ingredients
250 grams black gram, washed and soaked
100 grams raw papaya, cubed
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoon kolakhar
2 tablespoon of mustard oil
Salt, to taste
2 glasses water

Method
Pressure cook the black gram and papaya cubes with water and salt.
Once the cooker loses steam, heat the wok.
Add the mustard oil and bring it to the smoking point.
Now add the grated ginger and fry for half a minute.
Add the black gram, papaya and the khar.
Bring it to a boil and then lower the flame.
Cook it till you get the desired smooth texture.
Adjust the salt and switch off the flame.
Serve it with freshly cooked rice.

Puspanjalee Das Dutta is a geographer turned writer and blogger who loves exploring geographical implications behind culinary habits. She can be reached here.

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