bd rice and fish images bengali alphabet

From Assam’s poita bhat, to Tamil Nadu’s pazhaya soru to Kerala’s pazhan kanji, the same principle operates of thriftily taking leftover cooked rice and leaving it to soak in water in a loosely covered earthen pot till it ferments overnight, or even in a few hours on a hot summer day. While Odisha seems to value the dish most, variations are found in nearly every part of India where rice eating dominates. By contrast, social media images for #PantaBhat tend to show just the rice and a few accompaniments, like crisp raw onions, mashed potatoes, chutney and fried fish. Search for #pakhala or #PakhalaDibas on social media and you are flooded by images of elaborate meals where the basic simplicity of the fermented rice is circled by innumerable side dishes. March 20th is celebrated as Pakhala Dibas in Odisha, and in 2019, the Times of India reported that the event was growing bigger every year. But many Odias must have been angrily anticipating yet another Bengali appropriation. When Kishwar Chowdhury, a contestant on Masterchef Australia, drew on her Bangladeshi origins to present an elaborate version of panta bhat which she called Smoked Rice Water, many Bengalis were surprised to see such a simple dish in such a place and form.

If you thought the battle that broke out recently between Bengal and Odisha over the origins of rossogullas was bad, wait till you see what might happen if Bengal tries to lay claim to the fermented rice dish called panta-bhat there, and pakhal or paukhalo in Odisha.

Bd rice and fish images bengali alphabet