How a simple dish of fermented rice water stirs up passions
July 17, 2021, 10:50 PM IST
The author is the Editor, special features for The Economic Times.
If you thought the battle that broke out recently between Bengal and Odisha over the origins of rossogullas was bad, wait till you see what might happen if Bengal tries to lay claim to the fermented rice dish called panta-bhat there, and pakhal or paukhalo in Odisha. When Kishwar Chowdhury, a contestant on Masterchef Australia, drew on her Bangladeshi origins to present an elaborate version of panta bhat which she called Smoked Rice Water, many Bengalis were surprised to see such a simple dish in such a place and form. But many Odias must have been angrily anticipating yet another Bengali appropriation.