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Alcoholic drinks from Central and Eastern India

Mahua (mahua flower liquor)महुआ

Mahua is a country liquor distilled from the sun-dried, sugar-rich flowers of the mahua tree. The flowers are soaked in water with a rice-and-herb starter cake called bakhar or ranu, ferment 3–7 days, and the wash is distilled in a pot still sealed with mud. Santhal mahuli comes off the still at 30–40 % alcohol.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks10 days – 16 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceA household batch of Santhal mahuli in Similipal, Odisha, which gives about 6.5 L of spirit. Another recipe uses 4 kg flowers with 6 kg molasses and gives about 9 L.
Dried mahua flowers10 kgWashed before use[behera2016]
Bakhar (ranu) starter tablets300 g[behera2016]
Water32 L[behera2016]
Starterbakhar or ranu, sun-dried tablets of raw rice powder, medicinal roots and barks, and powdered old tablets

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 16 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
40–43 °C

What changes: Fallen mahua flowers dry in the sun and their sugar concentrates

Step 1 of 4
Collect and sun-dry fallen flowers
Time
5–7 days
Reported
Temperature
40–43 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

Output: dried mahua flowers, stored in gunny bags.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Mahua is a country liquor distilled from the sun-dried, sugar-rich flowers of the mahua tree. The flowers are soaked in water with a rice-and-herb starter cake called bakhar or ranu, ferment 3–7 days, and the wash is distilled in a pot still sealed with mud. Santhal mahuli comes off the still at 30–40 % alcohol. Made in 4 steps over 10 days – 16 days. The longest step, collect and sun-dry fallen flowers, takes 5–7 days (Behera S 2016) and runs at 40–43 °C (Behera S 2016). Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5–7 daysReported[behera2016]Collect and sun-dry fallen flowers
Temperature40–43 °CReported[behera2016]Collect and sun-dry fallen flowers

What makes this one different

Mahua is distilled from dried tree flowers, not grain or fruit. The flowers are so rich in sugar that they need no malting or mould starter to make sugar; the bakhar adds yeast.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Mahua with molasses4 kg flowers with 6 kg molasses, 300 g bakhar and 32 L water; gives about 9 L.
  • Commercial mahuli50 kg flowers with 50 kg molasses in drums, about 1 % Asana leaf or Basella extract added; 35–40 % from the still.

Safety

In storage about 30 % of collected flowers spoil from insects or microbes, so dry, sound flowers matter.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

A 1942 survey says the chief bases of country spirit in the United Provinces were mahua flowers and molasses, alone or mixed, and that the eastern districts preferred mahua. In the Panch Mahals and Kaira districts the Bhils and other tribes were the chief consumers and distilled illicitly. Indian tribes have made mahua liquor for centuries.

  1. [behera2016] Behera S., Ray R.C., Swain M.R., Mohanty R.C., Biswal A.K. 2016, Traditional and current knowledge on the utilization of mahua (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers by the Santhal tribe in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha, India, Annals of Tropical Research 38(1):94–104paper
  2. [chopra1942] Chopra R.N., Chopra G.S., Chopra I.C. 1942, Alcoholic beverages in India, Part II, Indian Medical Gazette 77(5):290–296archive
  3. [wp-madhuca] Wikipedia, Madhuca longifolia (outline only; peoples and the age of the drink)wiki