Saturday, May 14, 2011


My summer treat is Pakhala, a very popular dish of my state...u can have it anytime as breakfast/lunch/evening tiffin or even as dinner...It is soo tasty and  the person may be rich or poor his/her day never pass without pakhala.Pakhala is an Odia term for an Indian food consisting of cooked rice soaked or little fermented in water. The liquid part is known as Torani. A traditional Oriya dish, it is also prepared with rice, curd, cucumber, Cumin seeds, fried onions and mint leaves. It is popularly served with fried vegetables as potato, brinjal, Badi and saga bhaja or fish fry.
Probably Pakhala is the food of Odia's just as the Sattu for the Bihari's and Dal Bati for the Rajasthani's. However that does not mean pakhala is eaten and savored only by Odia's. In fact,the popularity of pakhala transgresses the Odisha  border to be enjoyed in states like Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh and even insome parts of Myanmar and Bangladesh. To the Bengali’s it is known as Panta Bhat,to the natives of Chattisgarh as Pakhal Bhat or Bore Bhat and to the Assamiya as Poita Bhat. Not only this, People in southern India have their own form of pakhala, the ‘tair sadam’ / curd rice which falls in the same category.
Eating pakhal has been recommended to prevent heat stroke in hot weather. I will post all the side dishes  for pakhala soon one after another, so that u people can have it and enjoy the taste of it...
Cook rice and allow it to cool (do not freeze).

Add curd and salt to taste.
Mix well before eating..Garnish as per ur choice...
Serve it with fish fry /saga bhaja/ ambula jhola/badi chura/ alu or ny fried veg/baigan chakta/or any other dry curry and salad..

Traditional way of preparing Pakhala is slightly fermented rice. people cook rice and add water to it along with little bit of old pakhal (something like making curd using milk and old curd). Pakhala tastes best when served after 8 to 12 hrs after preparation. Generally boiled potato and other fried vegetables or fried fish is served with pakhala. Modern day variation is to add curd instead of fermenting it..

So have it and cool ur body from the heat of summer and get a nice sleep...enjoy..:)

Some side dishes for Pakhala:-

1. Machha bhaja/fish fry
2. Bhendi Bhaja/stuffed okra
3. Chhueen bhaja/drumstick fry
4. Bhaja Santula
5. Bandhakobi/cabbage Santula
6. Badichura
7. Guduguda


  1. I love this one. We had oriya neighbors for 10 years and we kept hearing this from them and in summer, even my mom (that time we did not have fridge) to save rice from going bad, used to put water in it and next day we would eat it as you mentioned with some side dishes :)

  2. This sounds like a cooling rice dish.

  3. Dekhi ki peta puri gala.... Trimay

  4. tamilnadu name - 'palaya soru' means 'old rice'. or the new trendy name is 'ice biriyani'.

  5. Thanks for the recipe...This dish when rice is fermented overnight is also a good source of probiotic bacteria for healthy gut flora and fauna. Fermented foods like these help in digestion (better absorption of nutrients). There is lot of research regarding how ones gut health is directly related to the immune system of a person. Best book to read is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. He mentions how he was affected by HIV and eating fermented foods like these helped him cure entirely of the disease. In United States there are many versions of the fermented vegetable pickles that are avaialble in health food stores. Each region has its own way of fermenting food. Example Sauerkraut/Kimchee, Pickled carrots, Beet Kvass, And Dairy : Kefir and Kombucha.. All these are available these days to buy in health food stores here in US

  6. wonderful dish of Oriya Families..




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