 Panta Ilish - a traditional platter ofPanta bhat with friedIlish slice, supplemented with dried fish (Shutki), (Achar), dal, green chillies and onion - is a popular serving for thePahela Baishakh festival. | |
| Alternative names | bore basi poita bhat (Assamese), ponta bhat (Assamese, Kamta), zokra bhat (Kamrupi Assamese), zokora bhat (Central Assamese), Pazhaya Sadam (Tamil), Pazhamkanji/pazhakanji (Malayalam) literally old gruel. |
|---|---|
| Course | Main course |
| Place of origin | India Bangladesh |
| Region or state | Bengal region Assam |
| Associatedcuisine | Bengali cuisine Assamese cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Rice, water |
| Variations | Pakhala |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Culture of Bangladesh |
|---|
 |
|
Monuments |
| This article is part of the series on |
| Indian cuisine |
|---|
 |
Regional cuisines
|
Ingredients, types of food |
Panta Bhat orPoita Bhat (Bengali:পান্তা ভাতPàntà Bhàt;Assamese:পঁইতা ভাতPoĩta Bhat or পন্তা ভাতPonta Bhat) consists of cookedrice soaked and fermented in water. The liquid part is known as Toraṇi inOdia.[1] It is a rice-based dish prepared by soaking rice, generally leftover, in water overnight. Traditionally served in the morning with salt, onion, chili and Aloo Makha/Alu Pitika (mashed potato).[2] It is consumed in eastern Indian states ofWest Bengal, Odisha (Pakhala),Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh,Assam,Tripura and in the country ofBangladesh. Panta Bhat with Ilish (Hilsha) is the National Dish ofBangladesh. It is a popular dish on the day ofPahela Baishakh orBengali new year. It has been described in documents from 17th century. Panta bhat has moremicronutrients than fresh rice. It is traditionally considered as beneficial in conditions.
Anthropologist Tapan Kumar Sanyal, argues thatproto-Australoid people in parts of South Asia resorted to eating the panta bhat because they cooked once a day, in the evening.[3]Fray Sebastien Manrique reported from his visit of Bengal in 17th century that the people of all communities, according to Manrique, were contented then with the daily meal of rice, oftenpanta bhat, salt and green vegetable (shak). The better-off elements of the society consumed ghee, butter, milk and various lacteous preparations and sweetmeats.[4]
Rice researcher Mahabub Hossain ofInternational Rice Research Institute explains that in the past, people engaged in farm work preferred bold and brown rice which is more suited for watered rice, and also provides more nutrition. But, as more people shifted to urban centers the demand for farm work,brown rice and watered rice decreased. In these times of polished rice, the popularity of rice varieties like Lal Swarna and White Swarna is often driven by their suitability for panta bhat.[5]
There are many variations of the dish though all are made by soaking cooked rice in water overnight. Rice is boiled the usual way. Thenphaen or starch is strained away. Rice is cooled in air temperature for 3–4 hours. Then cool water is added in a way that about an inch of water rises above the rice. Rice is generally covered with a light piece of fabric. 12–24 hours later panta bhat is ready. Panta bhat retains its taste for 2/3 days. The fluid portion is called amani or torani, and may be specially prepared.[6] Care must be taken to cover the dish during the long soaking to avoid contamination.[7]
The soaked rice is usually eaten in the morning with salt,lime,chili (either raw or roasted) and onions (sliced or whole) mostly for flavor.[8][9] Panta bhat is often served with fried fish or vegetable curry or flattened rice (chira), dried cane or palm molasses (jaggery orguda) and milk curd (doi).[10] Water is discarded before consumption. Sometimes edible oils may be added.[11] Panta bhat or poita bhat is often garnished withmustard oil, onion,chilli,pickle, and served withshutki mach (dried fish),machher jhol (fish curry), especiallyshorshe Ilish (ilish cooked withmustard seeds),aloo bhorta oraloo pitika (mashed potato),begun bhorta (mashedbrinjal) and otherbhorta orpitika (mashed food).
A similar dish consumed in the Indian states ofOdisha,Jharkhand andChhattisgarh is known asPakhala (also pakhal, pokhalo or pakhal bhat). It differs from panta bhat in seasoning as yoghurt is sometimes added prior to the fermentation process.[12]Pazhedhu saadham, meaning "old rice", ofTamil Nadu is another variation of the dish.[13] It is consumed in East and South East Asia as well, and is known asJiuniang in China.
Panta bhat is especially popular in rural areas,[14][15] generally served with salt, raw onion and green chili.[16] It is usually served as breakfast,[15] though noon or evening consumption is not uncommon.[17][18] Panta bhat and other low nutrition food are consumed as fillers between meals.[19] Panta bhat is one of thecool dishes popular in Bengal, meaning it helps keep cool during the summer.[20] This cold and wet food, is suitable for summer mornings, but in winter dry foods, such aschira (flattened rice) andmuri (puffed rice) are preferred.[21]
In Bangladesh, it is a part of thePahela Baishakh (Bengali new year festival) festivities. On that day it is consumed as breakfast by urban people.[22][23] Panta is also served at high-end eateries in Bangladesh[24][25] Food-stalls maintained mostly by student groups on fair-grounds also serve panta-ilish.[26][27] Panta bhat on Pahela Baishakh is often served with friedhilsha (ilish), and students ofPabna Science and Technology University (PUST) assaulted their student counselor for not providing panta-ilish in the Pahela Baishakh of 2014.[28] But, the practice takes a toll on the hilsha population during the breeding season. Since 2016, Bangladesh government banned hilsha fishing and selling in the times of Pahela Baishakh, ministers started urging people to have panta withoutilish and social media became rife with calls for panta withoutilish.[29][30]Bengali Muslims prefers to have Panta Bhat asIftar when they fast during summer to stay hydrated.[31]
Among Hindus of West Bengal, it is consumed during theRanna Puja (Hindu cooking worship). During Ranna Puja, panta bhat is offered toManasa the snake goddess along with fried vegetables, yellowpigeon peas cooked withelephant apples, curriedash gourd and friedHilsa.[32] On theVijayadashami day ofDurga Puja, panta bhat is offered toDurga along with soup ofgrass pea, friedtaro leaves,machher jhol ofblue perch andchutney of elephant apple for Sabarna Roy Choudhury Atchala Durga in Kolkata.[33] InAssam, offeringdudh panta (milk withstale water-soaked rice) is a part of the marital ritual.[34] Panta bhat is also popular among slum-dwellers of Dhaka because it can be easily eaten only with salt or with an onion or a fried or green chili, without any other requirement.[35]
Most restaurants onNH34, which runs throughKrishnanagar, Nadia, serve panta bhat in summer along withkasundi,mustard oil,kaffir lime,green chili, slicedonion, aloo chokha, friedred chili,Poppy seed balls, aloo jhuri bhaja, mangochutney, sour curd, and sweetpaan.[36] Nabanno Hyderabad, a Bengali-owned restaurant inKukatpally,Hyderabad, serve panta bhat all the year round.[37]
There are many folk rhymes and proverbs about panta bhat:shashuri nai nonod nai kar ba kori dar/agey khai panta bhat sheshe lepi ghar (lit. "no mother-in-law, no sister-in-law, whom do I fear/ shall eat watered rice first then clean the room"),maga bhat tay basi ar panta(lit. "got rice begging, ask not whether stale or watered"),ki katha bolbo sai/panta bhate tak dai (lit. "what do I say, sour curd on watered rice),panta bhate noon jote na/begun poday ghee (lit. "no salt in watered rice/ghee in roastedbrinjal"),noon ante panta phuray (lit. "when salt arrives, the panta is finished"),mude mai radhe na/tapta ar panta (lit. "mother does not cook/so why ask hot or cold") andbandir kame yash nai/panta bhate kash nai (lit. "no merit in a maid's work/no fun in watered rice").[38] InNortheast India, there is a sayingMaghar panta baghar bal orpanta bhat gives the strength of a tiger.[39]
In a study conducted by agricultural biotechnology department of theAssam Agricultural University it was concluded that cooked rice had an element that prevented the availability of minerals like iron, potassium, sodium and calcium in high quantities, and the breakdown of the nutritional inhibitor by the lactic acid bacteria increased the mineral content manifolds. According to Madhumita Barooah, one of the researchers, "About 100 gm of cooked rice has only 3.4 mg of iron, while for the same quantity of rice fermented for 12 hours, the iron content went up to 73.91 mg. Likewise, sodium, which was 475 mg came down to 303 mg, potassium went up to 839 mg and calcium went up from 21 mg per 100 gm of cooked rice to 850 mg, after 12 hours of fermentation of the same quantity of rice."[40] According to another study (ILSI 1998), fermentation improves thebioavailability of minerals such as iron and zinc as a result ofphytic acidhydrolysis, and increases the content of riboflavin and vitamin B.[41]
Panta bhat has some remedial use. It is considered as a "cold food" byAyurveda traditions, while boiled rice is neutral. Hence is a preferred food for children with a fever.[42] Panta bhat also contains a small amount of alcohol as a result of fermentation.[43] When the conditions of preparingpanta bhat — keeping rice soaked overnight in water — were simulated in the laboratory, the rice was found to beinoculated withveratridine, asteroid-derivedalkaloid.[44]
Despite its nutritional and remedial values, panta bhat is often contaminated, with almost 90% of the samples containingfecal coliforms with a median count of 3.9 log cfu/ml. The contamination was more in the rainy season. Numbers of fecal 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. Contamination increased during the rainy season.[7] A ten-fold increase in contamination was observed between 4 hours of soaking and 16 hours of soaking.[45] In cases ofdiarrhoea this stale rice is not to be served to the patient,[46] though boiled rice and rice-water are often prescribed as diarrheal treatment.[47]
panta bhat and roasted chillies are good. Even the town people like them.
his wife used to bring him 'panta bhat' (remnants of the rice cooked in the previous night) with onion, pepper and salt from home.
