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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Rectified spirit brewed in the Northeast Indian state of Assam}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}<br />
'''Sulai''' is a [[rectified spirit]] brewed in the [[Northeast India]]n state of [[Assam]].<ref name="Xobdo">http://www.xobdo.org/asm/চুলাই {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref name="Barua Volatile">{{cite journal |author=Barua,M. |year=2013 |title=Volatile ecologies: towards a material politics of human-animal relations |journal= Environment and Planning A |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=1462–1478 |doi=10.1068/a46138 |s2cid=144550925 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5118888|access-date=21 December 2013}}</ref> A clear, colourless alcohol, Sulai is known as [[tharra]] in north India, [[handia (beverage)|handia]] or ''pheni'' in Nepal, and referred to as country liquor in colloquial parlance. It is generally brewed from fermented [[molasses]] or occasionally [[rice]].<br />
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== Preparation ==<br />
In the traditional method, [[molasses]] or unrefined treacle are first fermented in a large tin or drum. This is an anaerobic process carried out under controlled conditions of temperature and pH, wherein reducing sugars are broken down to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide.<ref name="Satyawali">{{cite journal | author = Satyawali Y., Balakrishnan M. | year = 2010 | title = Wastewater treatment in molasses-based alcohol distilleries for COD and color removal: A review | doi = 10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.12.024 | journal = Journal of Environmental Management | volume = 86 | issue = 3| pages = 481–497 | pmid = 17293023 }}</ref><br />
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The fermented molasses are then distilled in a large cylindrical metallic vessel continuously over firewood in an earthen oven. Above the main cylinder, a perforated container is placed, inside of which is a metallic collector kept on an iron tripod. The metallic collector is where the distillate '''sulai''' is collected. The bottom of the condenser vessel is plastered with mud to prevent excess ventilation during distillation.<br />
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[[File:Sulai Distilling Apparatus.jpg|thumb|Apparatus by which Sulai is distilled from fermenting molasses]]<br />
Water is replaced three to five times after it is heated. Condensed Sulai is collected in a small metallic vessel. The strength of the brew is determined by the number of times water is replaced, with the amount of untreated alcohol being higher when this is done fewer times.<ref name="Tamang Himalaya">Tamang, J.P. (2010) ''Himalayan Fermented Foods: Microbiology, Nutrition, and Ethnic Values.'' CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida</ref><br />
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Sulai is generally stored in clear, glass bottles. It has a strong pungent odour and is therefore often brewed in fields or away from people's homes. As the brew does not undergo multiple [[distillation]], it has a very high alcohol content and is considered a [[rectified spirit]].<ref name="Tamang Chapter">Tamang J.P. (2012) ''Plant-Based Fermented Foods and Beverages of Asia.'' pp. 49-92 in Y.L. Hui editor. ''Handbook of plant-based fermented food and beverage technology.'' Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, Florida.</ref> Alcohol content can be as much as 40-45%.<ref name="Satyawali" /><br />
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== History and political economy of manufacture ==<br />
'''Sulai''' is frequently referred to as country spirits, a term that was introduced by the [[East India Company]] in 1856 in reference to native modes of liquor preparation.<ref name="Shrutidev Goswami">Goswami S. (1987) ''Aspects of Revenue Administration in Assam, 1826-1874.'' Mittal Publications, New Delhi</ref> The company began to levee a tax, known as ''abkaree'', for the manufacture and retail of Sulai. Under this monthly tax system, the holder of a license (''mahaldar'') for country spirits could not brew more than ten gallons per day.<ref name="Shrutidev Goswami"/> Licensed distilleries were both private and government-owned. To each distillery was attached an excise establishment consisting of a ''daroga'' and a few ''peons''. The spirit manufactured was tested with a hydrometer and measured by the ''daroga'' without whose knowledge no spirit could be removed from the distillery.<ref name="Shrutidev Goswami"/> This regulation of manufacture meant that the brewing of sulai without a permit was illicit, a law that continues to hold in [[Assam]] today.<br />
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Although illegal, certain rural people in Assam are economically dependent on sulai, which is commonly sold in liquor stills (''sulai bhatti'') and private retail units.<br />
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== Consumption and cultural references ==<br />
Sulai is generally drunk directly without addition of water. Fried meat or any other curry is a frequent accompaniment. Traditionally, sulai is consumed by people from lower caste ethnic groups. Significant stigma is associated with consuming the brew, and scholars have argued that elites have historically constituted it as a drink of the 'lowly' classes.<ref name="Chatterjee">{{cite journal | author = Chatterjee P | year = 2003 | title = An Empire of Drink: Gender, Labor and the Historical Economies of Alcohol | journal = Journal of Historical Sociology | volume = 16 | issue = 2 | pages = 183–208 | doi=10.1111/1467-6443.00201}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Tharra]], a similar brew from north India<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{Indian beverages}}<br />
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[[Category:Indian distilled drinks]]<br />
[[Category:Assamese cuisine]]</div>Samyakk clothing