Panta Bhaat

Panta bhaat is one of the most nutritious and cooling ways of eating rice in the scorching summers of Bengal.

  • Cooking time
    30 minutes
  • Calories
    kcal
Recommended by
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Panta bhaat is a centuries-old recipe that involves fermenting cooked rice overnight. Consumed in summer, panta bhaat supplies probiotic bacteria and plenty of micronutrients that aid digestion. It produces a soporific effect that is conducive to a siesta that Bengalis love.

The fermentation of the rice carbohydrates by good bacteria increases the availability of a lot of micronutrients and minerals in the rice.

Books in this recipe

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Ingredients

Serves
2 servings
  • rice
  • potatoes
  • coconut (sliced)
  • green chillies
  • gondhoraj lebu
  • dried red chilli (optional)

Method

  1. Wash the rice and fill your pot with water.
  2. Peel potatoes and divide them into large chunks. Boil them along with the rice. Cook rice 10 minutes longer than you normally would. The rice should be soft; the softer the better.
  3. Extract the boiled potatoes from the rice. Strain the rice and allow it to cool completely at room temperature.
  4. Once the rice has cooled, add regular water. The water level should be about 2-cm over the level of rice. Gently break up the lumps. Allow rice to ferment in a cool, dark place for 8 hours.
  5. Squeeze water from rice and transfer to a serving bowl. Mash rice thoroughly. Mash in a boiled potato.
  6. Fry dried red chillies. Crush green chillies using a mortar and pestle.
  7. Squeeze in a dash of gondhoraj lebu. Season with salt as per your taste. Add the crushed green chilli and kasundi. Mix everything till well combined. Add a ladleful of chilled tok dal to the pantabhaat. Add sliced onion and mix.
  8. Now, add a ladleful of rice water. Garnish with fresh coconut slices, sliced onions, fried red chilli, green chillis, and a slice of mango from the dal.
  9. You can serve panta bhaat with alu-peyaj bhaja, alu bhorta, dal'er bora, and machh bhaja.

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