An Emotion Called “PAKAHALA”

The food habits of any place are influenced significantly by its geographical location, as this affects the crops and lifestyle of the particular region. Additionally, the menu you see in a particular locality is not built in a day or a month; it takes thousands of years. The change of seasons, the course of rivers, and natural calamities affect the lifestyle, as well as the food habits. When people travel from place to place, they taste and try new things, carrying the memories with them, and often these dishes are recreated. For years, one food that has been popular in our region is Pakhala (water rice), which means water is poured over boiled rice and kept overnight in a container, allowing it to ferment a little before it is consumed the next day. I spent my childhood in Koraput, a hilly area of Odisha, and I have noticed that this particular Pakhala is a bit more popular in the coastal parts of Odisha than in the hilly areas. Our state, Odisha, is located by the Bay of Bengal and has a coastline of around 400-450 km. By the time our days start to get a little larger than those of the winter season, we instantly start to feel the summer. The mild, cool breezes are replaced by warm, humid winds. As the days get longer and warmer, the humidity in the atmosphere also becomes more intense. For this reason, sweating is a constant companion in summer in our region, and this leads to dehydration. The best way to prevent dehydration is by consuming large quantities of water. However, just drinking water is not going to replace the electrolytes, so here we have our own solution: we add salt and lime juice (salt helps maintain the balance of sodium, and lime juice is a great source of potassium) to the water rice. This means you are getting water, energy from rice, and electrolytes. Also, as the water rice is fermented, it works as a probiotic (containing bacteria that are good for gut health). So, for our coastal region, Pakhala or water rice is actually a healing source.

        While living in Upper Kolab Nagar, Koraput, which is located at an altitude of 3000 ft above sea level, there was rarely an urge to take Pakhala. However, when we used to visit our native place, Kendrapada, during summer vacation, I would see everyone very fond of taking this Water Rice. My Aai (maternal grandmother) would serve a bowl of Pakhala with thinly sliced potato fries, tempered with mustard seeds and dry red chilies, or mashed potato (aloo bharta), mashed brinjal with onions and green chilies, saga bhaja (green leafy veggie fries), mashed burnt tomato with garlic and green chilies, papad, fried peanuts, mango or lemon pickles, badhi chura, and shallow fried fish or prawn ( without gravy). Often, seasonal vegetables are stir-fried and served with Pakhala. Also, raw mangoes, freshly plucked from trees, were added to the water of Pakhala or to the torani, which gives it a very tempting aroma. Most of the time, yogurt is added to water rice. See how simple yet healthy this diet is! Those days, even today, we prefer Pakhala in that basic style. Back then, one would not find Pakhala being served in a fancy style like you find it these days, tempered with dry chili, curry leaves, panch phoran or green chili.

          It’s a popular saying in Odisha that Pakhala is not only food but an emotion for Odia people. I don’t know who coined this phrase, but I find it really relevant in many instances in real life. Years have passed; my Mausi (maternal aunts) and we cousins are grown-ups now, and we are settled in different parts of the world. These days, summer vacations don’t visit our lives anymore, and after Aai left us, we rarely gather at our maternal ancestral home. But still, occasions like Pakhala Divas really refresh the memory of those childhood days with Aja and Aai (maternal grandparents). Whenever any one of us serves Pakhala, Aai is always there with the jingling of her bangles and smile, as we learned the art of preparing and serving Pakhala from her.