In a bid to promote Odia culture and its delicious cuisine across the globe, people of Odisha celebrated the International Pakhala Dibas on Monday with much enthusiasm.
Pakhala (cooked rice washed or little fermented in water), a mouthwatering Odia cuisine, is famously popular among Odias in their daily food menu, especially during summer.
The traditional food item is also attributed to the lord Jagannath culture. The Trinity (lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra) is offered Dahi Pakhala (water rice prepared with curd) during scorching summer.
The dish has gained a big thumb up from people across the globe.
The enthusiasm is also seen among people on social media to mark the day having the dish in lunch with family, friends and colleagues at or outside home.
The pakhala served with other items including aloo chatni, saga, badi chura, sajana chuin, fish fry, baigana bharta, salad, pampad and pickles makes its taste yummy.
The varieties of pakahla like dahi pakhala, chain pakhala, basi pakhala and jeera pakhala also find place in the hotel menu in Odisha during summer. On public demand, several hotels located in Bhubaneswar are preparing varieties of pakhala.
“On the occasion of the International Pakhala Dibasa, we have prepared pakhala under the categories, both veg and non-veg. While the veg thali costs at Rs 600, we have fixed Rs 500-Rs550 for non-veg thali,” said Swosti Grand Hotel’s F&B Manager Bikash Kumar Pradhan.
The stall ‘Pet Puja’ at Ekamra Haat near the Ram Mandir at Unit-3 is serving pakhala at a cost of Rs 70. The price of pakhala also varies as per other items served with it, said Pet Puja owner Prakash Behera.