It’s #pakhaladiwas today. A day dedicated to celebrate the Odia summer favourite dish, #pakhala. The dish is a great example of fermentation that features in cuisines across India. My friends,
Rohit Srivastava and Akash Mohanty, took me to the Odisha Hotel in Bhubaneswar after I had landed and checked into my hotel. They gave me a ‘pakhala for dummies’ introduction to the dish. Key takeouts: 1. Use your fingers to eat. 2. Add salt and lime juice to the mix. 3. Take a bite of the rice and then of the accompaniments. 4. At its most basic, sides are not a must with PB. The number of sides added is a function of affluence and preference. My favourites were the dried shrimp, alu chokha and badi chuda. 5. Do a bottoms up with the water at the end and take on the fierce summer sun with aplomb.
PS: I had a migraine attack after I had landed thanks to being cooped in the plane thanks to flight delay and then being assaulted by the fierce Bhubaneswar sun on landing. The hospitality of my friends and the soothing nature of the pakhala bhaat was just what I needed to set me right.
Here’s wishing all my Odia friends #happypakhaladibasa
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