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| Panta Bhat |
Panta Ilish - a traditional platter of Panta bhat with fried Hilsa slice, supplemented with dried fish (Shutki), pickles (Achar), dal, green chillies and onion - is a popular serving for the Pohela Boishakh festival.
Panta bhat is a lightly fermented rice-based dish consumed in Assam, Bangladesh, West Bengal and Nepal between Rajbanshi Community. Panta means "soaked in water" and bhat means "boiled rice". This dish of leftover rice soaked in water to prevent
spoiling, is generally served with salt, onion and chili.
It is especially popular in rural areas served as a breakfast. A similar dish consumed in the Indian state of Orissa and Chattisgarh is known as Pakhal, Pakhala or Pakhal Bhat. In Assam, where it is sometimes called Poitabhat, offering Dudh Panta (milk with stale water-soaked rice) is a part of the marital ritual.
Among Hindu Bengalis, it is consumed during the Ranna-Puja (Bengali cooking festival). In Bangladesh, it is a part of the Pohela Boishakh (Bengali new year festival) festivities. On that day it is consumed as breakfast by urban people. Panta is also served at high-end eateries in Bangladesh ,West Bengal and Nepal among Rajbanshi Communites.
Composition
Now you would be eager to know how this recipe is made-off. Fresh rice is cooked and fermented in water for 12 to 24 hours. The longer it is allowed to be fermented the better taste it yields. Basi pakhal if made with usna chawal, it tastes good as compared to arua chawal. I suggest you to ferment it in a earthen-pot instead of a metal container. In a earthen ware the fermentation gets faster. Every kitchen in Orissa got a handi (earthen ware) for it which is placed on a warm corner. If it fermented for a longer time, its taste becomes sour. Basi pakhal is usually added with a pinch of salt and taken along with dry curries, like allu-bhaja, baigan-bhaja, baddi-bhaja or kardi-bhaja (bamboo sprouts). A cup of curd could be added for the taste-buds. Of-course there is always an addendum for the non-vegetarians too. It tastes really good with jhuri (small fish) and sukhua (dry fish) curry.
According to a study (Henry et al.), panta bhat is often contaminated, with almost 90% of the samples containing fecal coliforms with a median count of 3.9 log cfu/ml. The contamination was more in the rainy season. Numbers of faecal coliforms increased 10-fold when there was a delay of more than 4 hours between preparation and consumption; 90% of the samples were eaten more than 12 hours after preparation. In cases of diarrhoea this stale rice is not to be served to the patient. According to another study (ILSI 1998), fermentation improves the bioavailability of minerals such as iron and zinc as a result of phytic acid hydrolysis, and increases the content of riboflavin and vitamin B. Panta bhat contains a small amount of alcohol as a result of fermentation. When the conditions of preparing panta bhat — keeping rice soaked overnight in water — were simulated in the laboratory, the rice was found to be inoculated with veratridine, a steroid-derived alkaloid.
Recipe
There are many variations of the dish but a common one is made by soaking cooked rice in water overnight. Care must be taken to cover the dish during the long soaking to avoid contamination. In the morning, the soaked rice is usually eaten with salt, lime and chili. Other curries or fish preparations may also be consumed along with panta bhat. Curd is also often consumed with the dish. Pokhalo often differs from panta bhat in that seasonings and yoghurt are sometimes added prior to the fermentation process. This cold and wet food, is suitable for summer mornings, but in winter dry foods, such as Chira (flattened rice) and Muri (puffed rice) are more preferred.
In rural Orissa People usually don’t have break-fast in their menu. Early morning when they wake-up, they take basi-pakhal,before leaving for their khet-khalla (farm lands). Basi pakhal is the staple food of the mass round the year, let it be summer, rain or winter. In the 70’s and ‘80s of the last century basi pakhal used to be a luxury for the poor of the Orissa. But now the scenario has been completely changed. With the mass literacy the per capita income has been raised. As a consequence of which, the living standard of the common man has been improved. But still basi pakhal rules their dining tables. Its history could be traced back to centuries old. This recipe might pre-exist 800A.D., as it is served to Lord Jagannatha at Puri till date.
In West Bengal
Panta bhat is a lightly fermented rice-based dish consumed in Assam, Bangladesh, West Bengal and Nepal between Rajbanshi Community. Panta means "soaked in water" and bhat means "boiled rice". This dish of leftover rice soaked in water to prevent
spoiling, is generally served with salt, onion and chili.
It is especially popular in rural areas served as a breakfast. A similar dish consumed in the Indian state of Orissa and Chattisgarh is known as Pakhal, Pakhala or Pakhal Bhat. In Assam, where it is sometimes called Poitabhat, offering Dudh Panta (milk with stale water-soaked rice) is a part of the marital ritual.
Among Hindu Bengalis, it is consumed during the Ranna-Puja (Bengali cooking festival). In Bangladesh, it is a part of the Pohela Boishakh (Bengali new year festival) festivities. On that day it is consumed as breakfast by urban people. Panta is also served at high-end eateries in Bangladesh ,West Bengal and Nepal among Rajbanshi Communites.
Composition
Now you would be eager to know how this recipe is made-off. Fresh rice is cooked and fermented in water for 12 to 24 hours. The longer it is allowed to be fermented the better taste it yields. Basi pakhal if made with usna chawal, it tastes good as compared to arua chawal. I suggest you to ferment it in a earthen-pot instead of a metal container. In a earthen ware the fermentation gets faster. Every kitchen in Orissa got a handi (earthen ware) for it which is placed on a warm corner. If it fermented for a longer time, its taste becomes sour. Basi pakhal is usually added with a pinch of salt and taken along with dry curries, like allu-bhaja, baigan-bhaja, baddi-bhaja or kardi-bhaja (bamboo sprouts). A cup of curd could be added for the taste-buds. Of-course there is always an addendum for the non-vegetarians too. It tastes really good with jhuri (small fish) and sukhua (dry fish) curry.
According to a study (Henry et al.), panta bhat is often contaminated, with almost 90% of the samples containing fecal coliforms with a median count of 3.9 log cfu/ml. The contamination was more in the rainy season. Numbers of faecal coliforms increased 10-fold when there was a delay of more than 4 hours between preparation and consumption; 90% of the samples were eaten more than 12 hours after preparation. In cases of diarrhoea this stale rice is not to be served to the patient. According to another study (ILSI 1998), fermentation improves the bioavailability of minerals such as iron and zinc as a result of phytic acid hydrolysis, and increases the content of riboflavin and vitamin B. Panta bhat contains a small amount of alcohol as a result of fermentation. When the conditions of preparing panta bhat — keeping rice soaked overnight in water — were simulated in the laboratory, the rice was found to be inoculated with veratridine, a steroid-derived alkaloid.
Recipe
There are many variations of the dish but a common one is made by soaking cooked rice in water overnight. Care must be taken to cover the dish during the long soaking to avoid contamination. In the morning, the soaked rice is usually eaten with salt, lime and chili. Other curries or fish preparations may also be consumed along with panta bhat. Curd is also often consumed with the dish. Pokhalo often differs from panta bhat in that seasonings and yoghurt are sometimes added prior to the fermentation process. This cold and wet food, is suitable for summer mornings, but in winter dry foods, such as Chira (flattened rice) and Muri (puffed rice) are more preferred.
In rural Orissa People usually don’t have break-fast in their menu. Early morning when they wake-up, they take basi-pakhal,before leaving for their khet-khalla (farm lands). Basi pakhal is the staple food of the mass round the year, let it be summer, rain or winter. In the 70’s and ‘80s of the last century basi pakhal used to be a luxury for the poor of the Orissa. But now the scenario has been completely changed. With the mass literacy the per capita income has been raised. As a consequence of which, the living standard of the common man has been improved. But still basi pakhal rules their dining tables. Its history could be traced back to centuries old. This recipe might pre-exist 800A.D., as it is served to Lord Jagannatha at Puri till date.
In West Bengal
This recipe is known as panta bhat. Since it is in a semi-liquid state, it need only to be served in an oval shaped bell-metal vessel called khuri. Oriyas have got a peculiar way of eating basi pakhal. They do slurping while eating basi pakhal by createing noise. It hears some thing like this "oohhh …..oohhh........"
The liquid content of bassi pakhal is called thir or taruani. By extracting this liquid you could add a pinch of salt, two drops of lemon and a few mint leafs (dhania). You can relish your thirst with this drink, instead of taking a synthetic soft drink.
The liquid content of bassi pakhal is called thir or taruani. By extracting this liquid you could add a pinch of salt, two drops of lemon and a few mint leafs (dhania). You can relish your thirst with this drink, instead of taking a synthetic soft drink.
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