Rajma Chitra – Joshimath – The True taste of hills

Born of the Hills : A Heritage

For centuries, the mountain folk of Uttarakhand have lived in quiet companionship with their crops. Pulses – rajma, gahat, bhatt, masoor – have always been at the heart of their meals and their survival. The steep fields, carved by hand into narrow terraces, have seen generations sowing these seeds side by side with grains and greens in what the hills lovingly call Barah Anaaj- the twelve- grain tradition of mixed farming. It isn’t just agriculture; it is a balance – between soil, sun, and sustenance. Long before organic became a word we used in markets, purity was simply a way of life here. 

Though kidney beans originally found their way into India through trade, centuries ago, the soil and climate of these Himalayan slopes shaped them into something distinct. Over time, the beans adapted – smaller, denser, richer in flavor – until they became an inseparable part of mountain identity. Every region gave rise to its own kind: the bold red of Chakrata, the pale cream of Munsiyari, the speckled beauty of Joshimath. Each one absorbed the taste of its valley – its air, its altitude, its water – creating a diversity found nowhere else. Even today, these pulses are more than just crops; they are a living archive of biodiversity. Farmers still grow them in small plots, not for profit alone, but out of habit, reverence, and pride.

Year after year, they save seeds from the best pods, passing them down like heirlooms. These heirloom rajmas – once counted in thousands of local types — now survive as precious few, yet their legacy continues in the bowls of warmth served across mountain homes.

Today, pulses including rajma remain among the higher-value crops in the state: in one report, Uttarakhand produced some 63,500 MT of pulses in 2021-22, with rajma/red kidney beans among the key crops.