Xaj: The Rich Tradition Rice Beer Brewing In Assam

Rice beer, whether it is xaj-pani or xaj for Ahoms, it is jou for Bodos, judima for Dimasha, apong for Mishing, hor alank for Karbi, sujen for Deuris, is an integral part of celebrations in the communities across north-east India.

It was a hot summer afternoon as we visited Bulumoni Chetiya Kowar in her home for a session of xaj-making and tasting. Xaj-pani or xaj is the traditional rice beer of the Ahom community of Assam. Every tribal community of Assam and the rest of north-east India brews rice beer. These beers are brewed using rice long with a medley of locally available herbs. Tribal/communal celebrations in the region are incomplete without a bowl of rice beer. From the birth of a baby, to the memorial services of the forefathers, rice beers play a vital role in the lives of tribal communities in this part of the world.

The rice beers also have different names in different communities. While it is xaj-pani or xaj for Ahoms, it is jou for Bodos, judima for Dimasha, apong for Mishing, hor alank for Karbi, sujen for Deuris, and so on.

Mrs. Kowar lives in Goahai Gaon, one of the oldest villages in Dhemaji in East Upper Assam. Most of the residents of the village were descendants of Ahom people who migrated to the north bank of the Brahmaputra during the First Anglo-Burmese war (1824-1826). Mrs. Kowar described herself as the poka Ahom descending directly from the 7 families who migrated to Assam with the first Ahom Swargadeo (King) Sukapha in the 13th Century.

Customs Around Preparing Xaj

She just finished brewing a fresh batch of xaj and was eager to serve us. “I belong to one of the 7 main families who followed Sukapha when he decided to cross the Patkai Hills and establish a new nation for us. Ahoms reigned for 600 years in Assam and were the only kingdom that defeated the Mughals 17 times.” Mrs. Kowar proudly shared her heritage while opening her pot of xaj. As she was pouring some xaj into a kah bati (bowl), she talked about how it is prepared and how it is not just a beer but a vessel to showcase their culture and customs.

Ahoms follow rituals in every step of making and serving xaj. In some cases, the server needs to pray to the guests to drink and make merry. She explained that in her mother’s home, the beer would be served in a bowl and covered with a banana leaf. But the guests can not remove the leaf unless the server sings the nam (prayer) and requests them to drink. And after they finish, the server also cannot collect the empty bowls unless the guests allow by singing a quote of nam and blessing the server.

Mrs. Kowar, in her sweet voice, sang the nam of serving xaj to the guests:

Matri aair saranat dharim kenekari, aamare sakati nai
Dukhat khyama kora dukhoni sarane, Diya padatale thai

The women who prepare xaj follow certain customs. They first take a bath, change into cotton clothes, light an earthen lamp and pray to the gods forefathers to help them brew. They will also make an offering of beetle nut and areca leaves on a xarai so that everything goes well.

Learning to Make Xaj

After that, the brewer will start selecting the herbs collected to make the xajor pitha (starter cake/yeast). Every community in Assam has its own recipe to make the cake and the proportions of rice flour and other ingredients vary. In fact, within a single community or a village, every household has its own recipe which is often kept secret. The knowledge is generally passed to the next generation by oral instructions.

Mrs. Kowar, in her traditional attire, started mixing rice flour with herbs as we were busy sipping the xaj she served. When asked about the procedure, she offered a vague idea of the proportions of the herbs to make the xajor pitha.

The yeast cake or xajor pitha is prepared by mixing herbs like tezmui (Zanthoxylum nitidum), manimuni (Centella asiatica), Kopou dhekia (Lygodium microphullum), tender leaves of pineapple and sugarcane, pani madhuri (Glochidion arborescens ), bon jaluk (Lygodium microphullum), phutkola (Melastoma malabathricum), jetulipoka (Rubus ellipticus), gopsoi (Naravellia zeylanica), huwalota (Ficus bhotanica), with freshly pounded rice flour.

It is to be noted that all the herbs added to the yeast cake have medicinal benefits. These herbs are collected, cleaned, and sun-dried so that they can get incorporated easily. Once the flour and herbs are mixed, they are shaped into little balls/cakes and are placed on a saloni (a traditional bamboo sieve). The cakes are placed over a bed of an herb called bihlongoni on the saloni, and covered with a layer of hay and banana leaves for 3 days. After 3 days, the cakes will be put over a chula to be dried. The dried cakes are lighter in weight and ready to be used.

To prepare the xaj pani, bora, traditional gluttonous rice produced in Assam, is cooked and spread over banana leaves to cool down. Meanwhile, the dried cakes are pounded and ground into a fine mixture. This mixture is mixed with the cooked rice and then spread out for some time. After this, the mixture is put into an earthen pot (koloh), sealed shut, and left for fermentation. Now, these xajor koloh or pots are kept in a secluded place where only a few people are allowed to enter. After 3-5 days, the xaj will be ready for consumption.

After the fermentation is done, water is added to the fermented mixture and strained. Now, the freshly brewed rice beer is ready to be served.

Mrs. Kowar mentions that rohi or the remnants of the fermented mixture, is sweeter than xaj and has many medicinal properties. She always collects the rohi, bottles it, and keeps it underground. Whenever someone has dysentery or other abdominal discomforts, she will offer two spoons of rohi to cure it.

The Role of Rice Beer in the Community

Rice beer is an integral part of Assamese culture. The person who brews rice beer must have extensive knowledge of nature to identify the herbs, collect them at accurate proportions and brew some fine beers. As these beers are free of artificial ingredients, and carry a bite of tradition with them, they can achieve great popularity if marketed properly.

Although popular all over Assam, you can hardly find traditional rice beers in the market. They are still brewed at a small level and consumed by families locally. However, there is a vast market for these drinks. But there is no active campaign to market these drinks outside Assam or within Assam commercially.

The Challenges of Producing Xaj Commercially

I spoke to Gitika Saikia, one of the most popular Assamese home chefs based in Mumbai what she thinks about the commercialisation of rice beer. She said, “I have introduced rice beer in my pop-ups a while ago during Bihu. There is a market for this rice beer. For instance, my customers who tasted it at my events have always asked me to brew it for them. But as home chefs, there are challenges like alcohol license to serve xaj during pop-ups. So, I have made the beer with with a place that had a liquor license. It was served as tasting portions and not peg-wise.” Ms. Saikia brews the rice beer locally at her home in Mumbai, however, she sources the ingredients from Assam.

Another popular Assamese home chef, Sneha Saikia who is based in New Delhi also shared great enthusiasm for rice beer to make it more commercial outside Assam. She said, “It's our traditional local drink and I always like to showcase our culture and traditions. I serve xaj and zhutho (another rice beer variety from Nagaland), and people have always loved the drink and appreciated me for my initiative.” When asked if she makes the beer in New Delhi, Ms. Saikia said that she used to outsource it earlier but nowadays, she makes it on her own. She outsources procuring the ingredients but brews it herself. She feels certain that Assamese rice beers should be available on shelves, and will be well received due to their flavour and uniqueness.

Rice Beers in Other Cultures

Asia has a long history of rice-based brews since a long time. In fact, a chemical analysis of pottery residue found in northern China’s Henan province showed that rice-based beverages were brewed as early as 9000 years ago. An international multi-disciplinary team detected alcoholic drinks which have traces of rice, honey, and fruits. These ancient pots were discovered on burial grounds indicating that the dead were buried with a pot of rice-based alcoholic beverages in ancient China.

Since then, China has had a long history of brewing alcoholic beverages, a few of them brewed from rice. Choujiu, traditionally known as laoli/yujiang dates back to the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). It is made from glutinous rice and is thick and white in colour like most of the rice beers from Assam. The fermentation process is also almost similar to that of xaj as choujiu is also fermented with cooked rice and starter cakes called qu. Other Chinese traditional rice beer is called mi baiju, rice based variation of baiju or Chinese vodka.

Almost every country in South-East Asia has a traditional rice-based alcoholic beverage. It is thought that the rice brewing culture spread from China. Rice was first discovered in the Yangtze plain of China and from there, it spread through the region. As new regions adopted rice as food grain, they also learned to brew rice-based beverages and these countries have different types of rice beers. Although the preparation and brewing methods are the same, the taste of the rice beer and the percentage of alcohol vary from country to country based on the specific rice species, their geography, and climate. Japan has Sake, Mirin; Thailand has Sato; Vietnam has Rou Nep cam; Cambodia has Sra Peang; South Korea has Soju, Maekegoli.

It is said that the rice beer brewing culture in Assam and other parts of north-east India came from South-East Asia. As there were a steady flow of migration and invasion came from South-East Asia to this part of India, it is expected that the people carried a lot of practices with them and introduced them there.

In Assam, the rice beer is traditionally made during religious ceremonies and it is made in smaller quantities which are often consumed within the households. However, with the growing demand in the market for traditional rice beers, entrepreneurs are coming with projects to manufacture and market Assam’s traditional rice beer.

One such entrepreneur, Akash Gogoi has started a brewery called Xaaj which is to hit the market shortly. “Our traditional rice-based alcoholic beverages are at par with other rices based drinks like sake or soju. Earlier, it was hard to market our traditional drinks but after the Governement of Assam passed the Assam Heritage Liquour Policy in 2017, it is now possible to bottle and sell them.”

He further elaborated, “Xaaj is a long term plan whose research and development started in the last decade. We have reserached and tried several things before we came up with Xaaj. After the decade-long research with Assam Agricultural University, we are now able to bottle it without the fear of continuous fermentation and a shelf life of seven months. Our fermentation and filtration process stopped at a stage where it gets a longer shelf life. I am confident that Xaaj will take over the market shortly because of its distinctive sweet taste.”

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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