Panta Bhat

Fermented rice with aloo bharta

Prep Time 12 hrs min
Cook Time 10 mins min
Serving Size 2
Recipe Type Microwave Oven

Panta Bhat is cold, lightly fermented rice soaked overnight in its own starch water, traditionally eaten with aloo bharta, pickle, or dried fish. A dish shaped by both abundance and hardship, it has long served as sustenance across homes and social boundaries. Cooling, nourishing, and quietly comforting, panta bhat is rice at its most elemental - simple, resilient, and steeped in memory.

Ingredients

Rice 340 gms
Potatoes 240 gms
Coconut (sliced) 50 gms
Green chillies 15 gms
Lemons (gondhoraj lebu) 2 pcs
Dried red chillies (optional) 3 - 4 nos

Method

Method:

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

Find out more about the history and tradition of the dish

In India, ragi has been found in archaeological excavations dating back to 1800 BC, and has been associated with honouring poets with a concoction of ragi, milk, and honey.

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