Bhubaneswar: If you are in Odisha and you haven’t tasted Pakhala then you have missed something. This is a typical Odia dish which is a staple in almost all Odia homes.
Variations of pakhala is common, but basically it is made with 3 main ingredients namely: rice, water and curd.
There are generally 2 broad variants of the dish, one in which the rice is freshly cooked, cooled and then water and curd are poured into it (saja pakhala).
The other in which the rice along with water, curd and a bit of starch is stored overnight (basi pakhala) and then served.
Pakhala is generally served with aloo bharta (boiled mashed potato), badi churra (mashed badi), saga bhaja (spinach fry), kakharu phula baja (pumpkin flower fry), kalara bhaja (bitter gourd fry).
Fried fish (macha bhaja) or mashed prawn (chingudi checcha) can also be served.
Pakhala serves as a great dish in the sweltering summer heat. It cools down the system and helps feel better during the hot summer months.
The traditional food item is served to Lord Jagannath. The trinity (Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra) is offered Dahi Pakhala (the water rice prepared with curd) during scorching summer.
Today is international pakhala dibas, though there is the fear of coronavirus hanging large on Odisha, people have been seen flocking at restaurants to have this much popular dish.
Prasanta Patnaik