Deukhuri (Dang), October 20: The house of the village is being run over, every house is being key off, the village is deserted, but the sound of banging on the tin roof in the middle of the village is coming unison. Smoke is coming from a nearby fire. Steam is coming out of the black pot on the fire. Most of the villagers were found in the same place beating and squeezing of Chiuri seeds.
While coal and dhiki are disappearing in the villages, the citizens of Ghorahi sub-metropolitan city of Dang-18 Ghordaura have been producing ghee using traditional techniques. There are 14 families living in Lamidhara village of Ghoradaur. Radha Giri of the same village was found cooking seeds ​​of chiuri. He said that ghee is produced by grinding the seeds of chiuri which are wasted in the forest. He said that she used to take time off from housework to go to the nearby forest to pick chiuri. “Every year, we harvest and harvest the beetroot, this year we harvested five muri chiuri, and we are making ghee from it,” Giri said. He said that he has been producing ghee at home by grinding the seeds of chiuri which are wasted in the forest.
She said, “Since the time of forefather, there has been a good production of Chiuri in Ghordaura, we have also been producing ghee every year.” Giri said that she was cooking using ghee from Chiuri. She said that chiuri ghee is also used to cook bread during Tihar. Mentioning that the market is not interested in the oil, she said that after grinding the seeds of Chiuri once at home, it reaches the whole year. Giri said that everyone in the village worked together to grind and squeeze chiuri, but it was difficult to work alone.
Khadak Bahadur Mahara of the same place also said that he was waiting for his turn as he had come to get chiuri. He said that he was able to eat organic food from the chiuri seeds that were being wasted in the forest without having to pay money. “There is no need to buy market oil, money is also saved”, he said. Mahara said that he used to earn by selling the leftover ghee. Chiuri ghee is considered very good for health. He says that there is no adulteration in Chiuri’s ghee, so it is pure because it is collected and extracted by oneself.
Chiuri ripens in June. Harvesting is done in July. Mahara said, “We wash and preserve the seeds that are eaten by Chiuri so that they don’t spoil.” He said that they used to pick up about three muri chiuri in a year and reach the whole year. “It is not taken to the market to be sold in the village, it is used as a waste. We are selling ghee for Rs 800 dharni (2.20 kg approx) to those who come to buy it”, he said. Mahara said that everyone there was plucking their seeds. He said that if you work hard for a month, you will have enough ghee to eat for the whole year, so the villagers gather seeds together.
Bharat Aryal, the ward president of Ghorahi sub-metropolitan city-18, said that they have protected the ghee-making coll and pedal mill of Chiuri. He said that the ward office has provided one lakh rupees for the preservation of the traditional coll कोल under the open sky.
