How the 'makrei' sticky rice fosters love, labour in Manipur

There’s a story of a man called Kaho Shatsang in our extended family–one that has been passed down several generations. Kaho was from Huishu, a small indigenous Tangkhul Naga village located in the northern fringes of the Indo-Myanmar boundary in Ukhrul district, Manipur. 

Although his life may seem ordinary, among his peers, he is most fondly remembered for his peculiar affinity to sticky rice or makrei. Kaho was known as the man who only grew makrei in his fields.

There was a mantra that he seemingly lived by, that is still clearly remembered by many. It goes something like this: “I’d rather have a tightly packed little ball of sticky rice in my stomach than walk around with a heavy meal of plain rice.”

Our grandparents animatedly narrated this story to us when we were younger, something we had a good laugh about. Retrospectively, however, his approach makes a lot of sense.

The indigenous Tangkhul Naga tribe living in Manipur and part of Myanmar relies heavily, for their livelihood, on agriculture and farming–which involves strenuous labour. Loads of calories are required to get through long, taxing days in the fields. Kaho had realised the magic of sticky rice early: the calorie content of this rice sustained one longer in the fields, without making one feel too full and heavy to work. 

Indigenous resilience and ingenuity

Before the arrival of Christianity and the consequent exposure to globalisation, sticky rice served as one of the most important and versatile raw ingredients for many of the Tangkhuls’ staple food items. Rice wasn’t restricted to its ordinary cooked form–a reflection of the ingenuity of indigenous communities, who made the most of the limited resources at their disposal.

The food items prepared from sticky rice were generally considered as snacks, consumed while at work in the fields to stave off hunger and supply energy. This included Hao Khamui (rice bread), Ma Ngatai (flattened rice snack), Khor (rice beer), Manuizat (sticky rice), and Chakhan (porridge). 

To this day, despite the plethora of options available as snacks in the market, many of these food items continue to hold a special place in the daily lives of the community. 

Also read: The fragile future of Guchi mushrooms

Markei as food 

Hao Khamui or rice bread is one of the most commonly enjoyed snacks prepared from makrei flour. The older generations of this community prepared hao khamui by either wrapping the sticky rice dough in wild cardamom leaves before boiling it, or by baking the dough in ash. The baked or boiled khamui was also often pounded with perilla seeds for a special snack called Sachao. 

“Today, khamui is prepared in many ways. Some deep fry it in oil, while some bake it into cakes. All of these preparations have come with the adaptations to the modern lifestyle,” shares Michael Zimik, a reputed lawyer from Hunphun village.

Another snack that was very popular among the youth back then was Ma Ngatai (flattened rice snack). Ma Ngatai is prepared from young grains of sticky rice in early October, before the official harvest season begins. Peer groups called Yarnao(s) gathered together in the evenings to court one another in a practice called Meisum kapam, where they fried and pounded the young rice grains into Ma Ngatai. Although Ma Ngatai is still prepared by many farmers, the social element of the Yarnaos gatherings to prepare it is a practice that is losing its relevance in many Tangkhul villages. 

But a few other snacks such as Manuizat (cooked sticky rice, sometimes sweetened with sugar) and Chakhan (porridge) are still consumed by the community at large.

The only preparation among the many derived from makrei which has lost its reverence over the years is Khor (rice beer). The art of preparing this slightly sweet and savory rice beer is becoming a lost art due to the overarching influence of religion in the community.

When Christianity arrived in the late 19^th century, it looked upon the consumption of alcohol as an “evil practice”–so, the art of brewing khor was widely frowned upon and discouraged. This led to a majority of the early Christian converts abandoning the practice of brewing khor; slowly, this rendered it a nearly forgotten practice to the community today. 

Although illegal brewing and bootlegging of distilled local alcohol is still found in the community at large, only a few northern villages of the Tangkhul Naga community now hold the knowledge of brewing the indigenous khor that was once a daily staple in the lives of the community.

Also read: The tribal seed guardians of Dindori

Cultural significance

The significance of Makrei extends beyond being a food. This humble variety of rice had long found its place in some of the rites and rituals that were once practiced by the community. In the district headquarters of Hunphun village, Khamui was used as an item to appease the rain gods during times of drought. This was generally done in the month of June, when the irrigation canals would run dry and water remained scarce in the rain-fed paddy fields.

“It was believed that offering the khamui to the deities by the Muirangs (a clan in Hunphun attributed with the duty to perform this particular rite) brought about rain for the transplantation season,” explains Zimik

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Another significant occasion where the sticky rice takes centre stage is during the traditional Ngala Katha (bridal march) where the bride, adorned in her traditional attire, carries a gift of manuizat (sweetened cooked sticky rice) in a basket called Tunsop to the house of the groom. This gift is meant to signify the hope that the just-sprouting relationship between the newlywed and their extended family is as sweet and as sticky as the lovely makrei! 

This sweet practice is only one example; so many rituals and affinities to sticky rice remain relevant to the community to this very day, a living reminder of how makrei continues to transcend beyond being just a grain of rice. 

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