Folks rob pleasure in extraordinary foods, incessantly driven by customized or the promise of health benefits.
Nonetheless clay? That’s no longer easy to fathom.
Nonetheless in Sylhet, a quite loads of snack made entirely of clay – although uncommon now – stays a longstanding custom.
Corresponding to cookies in look, the snack identified in the neighborhood as Chikor or “matir biscuit” (clay biscuit) stands out no longer finest for its irregular substances but additionally for its charming ancient past and a slightly of mystique.
Chikor stays Sylhet’s weird and wonderful local adore. Avenue vendors arrive Sarada Corridor in Chandnighat, along the Surma River, provide this odd snack, alongside quite loads of clay objects.
Whereas the principle prospects are females, specifically folks who’re pregnant, the largest customer fallacious consists of Sylheti expatriates, specifically these in the UK, US and the Center East.
Many buy Chikor in bulk to send to households in a international nation, vendors impart.
No one in actuality knows why
Primarily based totally on locals, the custom of making Chikor originated in Habiganj and later spread to Sylhet and the surrounding districts. The notice Chikor derives from the Persian phrases “chiya” (unlit) and “kar” (soil).
There’s no longer any definitive reason in the support of why folks bask in Chikor. Opinions vary among locals.
Conversations with aged and center-venerable folks in Sylhet display that, historically, impoverished communities relied on Chikor as a food replace.
They express Chikor comprises minerals that strive against anaemia and serve bodily energy, which is why rural females, specifically all the plot in which via being pregnant, bask in it to take care of nutritional deficiencies.
Furthermore, some folks bask in Chikor out of behavior, a lot like chewing betel leaves or tobacco.
For occasion, Laili Begum, a homemaker in the Madina Market problem in Sylhet, notes that she ate Chikor all the plot in which via her being pregnant 5 years up to now.
“It was a craving all the plot in which via being pregnant, and elders also suggested it, so I tried it. I’m undecided if it had any benefits,” says Laili.
Her husband Murad Ahmed also consumed Chikor alongside her. He says, “It tastes mildly sweet and good. If you strive it, you feel love having it but again.”
Eighty-year-primitive Rekha Rani Das from Rakhalganj, South Surma, provides, “Chikor is alleged to boost energy and cease anaemia. In earlier days, folks may perchance well no longer afford medication or doctor visits, in allege that they turned to Chikor. With regards to all pregnant females consumed it support then, although its bid has declined now.”
Even the vendors at Chandnighat may perchance well no longer bellow its particular benefits.
Shahid Ahmed, a vendor promoting clay products and Chikor for practically twenty years, says, “Many of us buy it, but I’m undecided why they bask in it. I’ve heard it will increase energy, urge for food and serves as a alternative to iron capsules, specifically for pregnant females.”
He provides, “Some folks who sell blood on a on each day foundation foundation also buy Chikor.”
Dr Jonmejoy Datta, deputy civil surgeon of Sylhet, notes that there’s no longer any scientific evidence to serve any health benefits of Chikor.
“To my records, Chikor has no confirmed benefits. In being pregnant, calcium and iron dietary supplements are suggested, but these minerals are absent in clay. Of course, clay may perchance well also have sinister bacteria,” says the doctor.
He further says, “No food or substance wants to be consumed without approval from the Food Security Authority or the Directorate of Drug Administration.”
How Chikor is made
Sajib Malakar of Lalabazar’s Sanatan Para has been making Chikor for practically forty five years, a custom passed down from his father and grandfather.
He explains, “Chikor is fabricated from clay gathered from beneath hills and mounds. The clay is first extracted by digging holes and utilizing bamboo poles. After being soaked overnight to melt, the clay is combined, kneaded and fashioned into dough.
“It’s then flattened with a wood mallet and prick into biscuit-sized objects with a knife. The uncooked Chikor objects are dried in the sun for a day or two earlier than being baked in a clay oven. After about two hours, the Chikor turns a melancholy color and releases a fragrant aroma, incessantly enhanced with rose water and quite loads of scents.”
Describing Chikor as a tiny bit addictive, he notes, “Like cigarettes, it will change into a behavior, and it be essentially females who bask in it.”
Chikor is produced in areas love Lalabazar and Gawalabazar in Sylhet, as well to in Sunamganj’s Chatak, Habiganj’s Banachang, Bahubal and Madhabpur and parts of Moulvibazar.
Some Hindu households in these regions were making and promoting Chikor for generations.
Alternatively, with gross sales declining, many non-public turned their support on the occupation.
Businessman Bishnupad Dey in Moulvibazar’s Jagatsri problem remembers, “Within the past, participants of the Shobdokar and Kumar communities historical to create Chikor. After we were kids, females from these communities would bound door-to-door promoting it. Nonetheless now no one sells Chikor in this plot anymore.”
How’s industry?
Shahid Ahmad, a Chikor vendor from Chandnighat, says that he sells the snack for Tk90 to Tk100 per kilogram, with day after day gross sales ranging from 15 to 20 kilograms.
He explains, “Most of our prospects are kin of expatriates, who buy Chikor to send in a international nation. Some also buy from us to export to worldwide locations love the UK. For export, we create a quite loads of version, which is priced elevated.”
Any other vendor, Al Kayyum Roni, notes that gross sales non-public sharply declined. “Older folks smooth buy it now and again, however the younger generation hardly ever ever does.”
Currently, he sells finest 4 to 5 kilograms per day.
Chikor maker Sajib Malakar says, “We sell wholesale Chikor for Tk40 to Tk50 per kilogram. For export, we label Tk80 to Tk90 per kilogram for specially keen Chikor.”
