MASYAURA- A TRADITIONAL FOOD OF NEPAL

Masyaura is “Legume based traditional, non salted, partially fermented food product of Nepal. It is prepared mainly from Black Gram and Colocosia tuber by traditional sun drying as well as controlled fermentation and mechanical drying method”. Friable, brittle and spongy dried balls 2-5 cm in diameter, once it is prepared the dried balls are stored for future use. At the time of cooking, it is mixed with curry to make soup and served with rice as side dish.

Masyaura used by most of the vegetarians as a substitute for meat. It is usually prepared in cottage or home scale level and used as an adjunct in curry. It is also made from split black gram and vegetables like colocosia or radish or ash guard depending upon their availability. The quality of Masyaura depends upon effective sun drying, so is prepared during dry season. Spoilage can be result during rainy season. It is source of protein, carbohydrate and minerals. The protein quality of Masyaura is comparable to animal protein. The soluble proteins, non protein nitrogen, Vitamin B increases during drying whereas pH, starch, free sugar and reducing sugar contents are found to be decreased. During sun drying, total microbial load dominated by lactic acid bacteria, yeast leads to fermentation that increases the digestibility of proteins and starch, reduces the anti nutrients like oxalate, phytate etc. whereas the essential amino acid profile did not show any significant change. Hence better is the digestibility of final Masyaura. Sun drying is traditional method of preparation that takes 3-5 days depending on weather condition. So this links with preservation of vegetables by sun drying for long period.

For preparing masyaura, black gram and colocosia tuber are cleaned for removing foreign material. Black Gram is soaked overnight in clean, potable water and ground into thick paste using a wet grinder. Previously it was done by Dhiki and Janto. The colocosia tuber is washed, peeled and shredded into small pieces. The shreds are mixed with the paste of black gram dhal. The dough is made into small lumps and are placed 1 inch apart on bamboo trays (nanglo and mando) and sundried for until they become hard and dry.

While traditional method of preparation is still used in most part of the country, modern method of preparation is also in practice which is based on the use of inoculating micro-organism and rest of the process remains the same. Sun drying during preparation is the period of fermentation in masyaura.

Sun drying required longer duration is found to be more favorable for microbial growth (mainly lactic). The keeping quality depends on the microbial load in the preparation.

The fermentation of masyaura results significantly increase in vitamins, acidity, microbial load, soluble protein and digestibility of protein and starch whereas pH and starch content decreases. Increase in total acidity in the product also helps in enhancing the shelf life of the food. Although “controlled fermentation” method of preparation is practiced now, the traditional sun drying method is best for availability and nutritional point of view of masyaura.