Vigna Umbellata - Cultural Significance

Cultural Significance

In South Asia, the idea of a division of foods into hot, cold and neutral is very common. This has an important bearing on dietary choices, as this perception not only promotes a balance between hot and cold food stuffs in daily nutrition, but also encourages or discourages the consumption of various items according to season, and during sickness. An account of the perception of a number of food items in Nepal has been published by Gittelsohn et al. (1997). Their data shows that there is hardly any “scientific” basis for the division into hot and cold foods. For instance, yogurt is cold while goat milk is hot, buffalo meat is cold while fish and chicken is hot, and black gram is cold while red gram (cowpea) is hot. It should be noted that this perception tends to be location-specific, so these findings cannot be generalised all over Nepal (or South Asia!). Their study did not comment on the hot-cold rating of ricebean.

In Nepal, ricebean tends to be categorised as a cold food (e.g. in Gulmi, Kailali, Syangja, Dang, Gorkha districts) and it is said to cool people in the summer. However, it is also said to make people warm during the winter. In Ilam District in Eastern Nepal, ricebean is considered hot, and there it is advised that old and sick people should not eat it during the hot season, as it is not easily digested and weak people would get stomach problems from eating it.

Another account from Ilam stated that ricebean, although creating some stomach unrest, was milder and more digestible than other pulses, and therefore often served to people who suffer from indigestion. Whether hot or cold, the major share of ricebean is consumed soon after harvest, so the crop will only indirectly impact on food security during the lean season in the pre- and early monsoon period.

Some oral evidence from Nepal says that ricebean does not have a particular ceremonial role. This is in contrast to black gram which is used for ceremonial purposes among high caste Hindus, and also for instance among Rai people in the Arun Valley. In addition, black gram is considered tastier and fetches a higher market price, so will tend to replace ricebean if the farmer has to make a choice.

Quantee (or kwati in Newari) is a mixed bean sprout soup served at the Janai Purnima or Raksha Bhandan festival. Ricebean is one of nine beans prescribed for this recipe. The festival marks the end of the monsoon where people by traditional perception (and probably also in reality) have been weak, undernourished and subject to diseases. In this respect, quantee is said “to make one strong” and to purify the stomach as the mixed bean sprouts are hard to digest and so cleans the stomach. In addition, eating quantee is said to kill a certain type of mosquito (Löwdin, 1998).

While ricebean in Nepal is to some extent perceived as a "poor man's food", it is not particularly stigmatised, so no ethnic or caste group actually has a rule against it. In Dang, ricebean is particularly enjoyed by Tharu (indigenous Terai) people, who have a version of quantee which requires ten different beans.

One source mentioned that since ricebean is supposed to make you strong, people will often serve it to labourers, while also occasionally consuming it themselves in connection with tasks requiring hard work.