Kumaon - one of the vibrant sections of the Himalayas is where Bara Najah system of agriculture is practised. In this type of agriculture, the farmer never takes a single/ mono crop but instead follows a natural cycle of mixed cropping which encompasses the twelve basic crops - hence Bara (hindi for twelve) Najah.
The reason for doing this practise is that the mountain soils are extremely delicate in their ecological balance and a monocrop can very easily upset this balance by extracting only certain elements from the soil. Thus to maintain the fragile ecological balance, this system of mixed cropping pattern has been evolved over generations.
The Kumaoni Kidney Beans or Rajmah are the legume crop of this sytem. They posses a subtle and deilcate taste which can be savoured by eating them plain boiled. Besides, you can add them to curries, make Dals such as Makhani Dal or have it with rice - Rajmah Chawal - the staple food of this region.
