Bhubaneswar: Today, Odias across the state are observing Pakhala Dibasa. Every year March 20 is observed as Pakhala Divas.
Pakhala is watered rice. Odias, across the state love to consume this recipe. Come summer and every Odia families start incorporating Pakhala in their daily lunches.
Although pakhala is eaten not only in Odisha, but people of other adjoining states also are fans of this cuisine, but still it has come up as a typical food of Odisha over the last few decades.
Pakhala is an ideal food to bit the hit. It lessens dehydration in the body. However, it has been observed that you feel a little bit drowsy for some time after consuming pakhala. Daily wage labourers use to consume it in their lunch because most of them work under direct sunlight. They need some food that can keep them away from dehydration for a long time. That was the reason earlier pakhala was a recipe for the labour class. However, at present the food has found place in the daily meals of both rich and poor families. Even the food has been commercialized. While small eateries in Odisha also cater pakhala to their customers, even star hotels have added pakhala to their menu over the years. In Odisha, people feel happy to have a meal of pakhala.
The other accompanying foods that are served along with pakhala are also important. And stale pakhala is tastier than the freshly prepared pakhala. Add a piece of lemon or curd to make the recipe tastier. Pakhala is mostly served with roasted vegetables like potato, brinjal, badi, saga bhaja and fried fish.
Pakhala is prepared by mixing rice with water, curd and keeping it overnight. After 7–8 hours the rice starts to get fermented. This fermented, cooked rice is known as pakhala and is very tasty. Pakhala is also one of the offerings of Lord Jagannath. The three deities in Shree Mandira in Puri are offered pakhala. Torani is the liquid part of pakhala. Tanka-torani is one of the offerings of Lord Jagannath.
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