Baji/chiura: The food that defines the entire culture of Newars in Nepal

“Baji nye dhuna laa?” literally means ‘have you had beaten rice?’, but culturally, this is a common question that means a person is asking another if they had snacks or an afternoon meal. Members of the Newa community still casually use this phrase, but it implies how integral baji (beaten rice that most Nepalis refer to as chiura) has been to them. Yet when and how it became that integral is still open to debate.

Many who have tried to answer have concluded that baji, a staple food, must have come into existence as an agricultural byproduct. Similar references to the food, though irregular, has also been made in other countries including India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia.