Bhubaneswar: Every year, March 20 is celebrated as Pakhala Diwas. The day is observed to promote the traditional dish among the Odia diaspora.
Apart from being mouth-watering, Pakhala is both tasty and healthy. While some serve it with assorted side items like vegetable fries and fish fry, elsewhere people have pakhala with a slice of onion and potato fry. Grated ginger and roasted cumin seeds not only add zing to the aroma but also elevate the overall taste.
Aimed at promoting the cuisine across the globe, Pakhala Diwas was first celebrated on March 20, 2011. Since then, it is getting bigger and grander every year.
How to Cook It
Pakhala is very easy to make and easy to eat. And most importantly, it is affordable for everyone. Soak the cooked rice in water for at least 6-8 hours overnight for fermentation. Then it is served with several added dishes like spinach, Badi, pumpkin flower, onion, mashed or fried potato, brinjal fry, green chilli, chutney, pickle, saga bhaja, roasted vegetables and curd for the vegetarians. For non-vegetarians, small fish and prawn fries are considered as the best-accompanied dishes. Drinking the water of the Pakhala which is known as Torani at the end gives immense satisfaction.
Lord Jagannath’s connection with Pakhala
It cannot be an exaggeration if we say pakhala is an inalienable part of Odia culture. The cuisine is intrinsically attached to the emotions of the Odias. Pakhala is also served to the deities of Puri Jagannath temple. It is one of the chappan bhog offered to Lord Jagannath.
Pakhala Got Fillip in 2018
The recipe got a boost and became famous when Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik invited former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury to share pakhala with him at Naveen Niwas.
These national leaders had come to the state capital to release The Tall Man Biju Patnaik, a book on former chief minister Biju Patnaik. It was when the pictures of their Pakhala lunch with Odisha Naveen Patnaik at his residence had gone viral on social media.
Pakhala Is a Popular Cuisine to Beat the Heat
Though pakhala is a round-the-year dish for the people of Odisha, it has become a staple Odia food during summer. With the rise in temperature, people prefer to have a bowl of pakhala. Apart from being healthy, it is useful to beat the heat, humidity and possible sunstroke during summer.
Keeping the growing popularity of the Pakhala in mind, city restaurants and hotels have started coming up with a never-ending list of assortment/side dishes along with pakhala. However, the price of pakhala platter varies from restaurant to restaurant. Its cost also ranges from Rs 30 per plate to Rs 500 at popular restaurants and star hotels.
Health Benefits of Pakhala
- Consuming pakhala increases the production of good bacteria in the stomach, which ultimately improves the state of the large intestine.
- Also, Pakhala helps in digestion, gut-friendly and improves body immunity because Pakhala is probiotic rich due to the presence of lactic acid.
- Natural probiotics like fermented rice improve gut health and eliminate stomach ailments.
- Pakhala is also a rich source of vitamin B12 after fermentation the rice becomes rich in nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
- It improves gut health by adding more probiotics to our diet. It helps in improving skin.
