Ingredients
Rice
- 600 gcooked rice, freshly cooked and cooled
- 1.5 litrescool water
To serve
- 4 piecesfried hilsa, or any fried fish
- 4green chillies
- 1onion, sliced
- salt
- mustard oil
Often alongside
- aloo bhorta, mashed potato with mustard oil
- shutki, dried fish
- lime wedges
Directions
- Cool the freshly cooked rice quickly and thoroughly before it goes into water, rather than leaving it to sit warm.
- Cover the rice completely with cool water so no grain is exposed to the air.
- Keep it somewhere cool, and in a warm climate keep it in the fridge, which is what most Bangladeshi households now do.
- Use it within about twelve to twenty-four hours, and no longer. It should smell pleasantly sour and yeasty, like a mild sourdough.
- Serve the rice in a bowl with plenty of its own water.
- Fry the hilsa in mustard oil until crisp, and fry the green chillies whole alongside it.
- Slice the raw onion and set it out with salt and the fried chillies. Sour rice, salty fish, raw onion and fierce chilli, with cold water to drink from the bowl.
Technique
- It is genuinely cooling and is eaten in the hottest part of the year.
- Parboiled rice holds up better than basmati and is what is traditionally used.
- The same idea appears across eastern India as pakhala in Odisha and pazhaya sadam in Tamil Nadu.
Substitutions
- Any fried fish in place of hilsa, which is expensive and bony.
- Any cooked plain rice, though coarse parboiled rice is traditional.
Variations
- Pakhala, the Odia version, often with curd.
- With aloo bhorta and dried fish rather than hilsa.
- Eaten plain with salt, green chilli and onion.
History
Rice soaked overnight in water until lightly fermented; once a rural poverty food, now eaten ceremonially with hilsa on Pohela Boishakh.
Frequently asked questions
What is Panta Bhat?
Panta Bhat is a breakfast from Bangladesh: fermented soaked rice with fried hilsa and chilies; Bengali New Year dish. Rice soaked overnight in water until lightly fermented; once a rural poverty food, now eaten ceremonially with hilsa on Pohela Boishakh.
How long does Panta Bhat take to make?
Panta Bhat takes 10 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Panta Bhat?
Yes, within limits. Any fried fish in place of hilsa, which is expensive and bony. Any cooked plain rice, though coarse parboiled rice is traditional.
What is the most important thing to get right in Panta Bhat?
Cool the freshly cooked rice quickly and thoroughly before it goes into water, rather than leaving it to sit warm.
