FERMENTED RICE GRUEL - HOW TO MAKE PAZHAMKANJI

FERMENTED RICE GRUEL / PAZHAM KANJI

Today am going to share with you a very healthy breakfast recipe. Fermented rice gruel /Pazham kanji / pazham choru / pazhaya sadam, it is called by different names.  As the name implies, it is the old rice or old rice porridge which is one of the most nutritious food to have for breakfast. It was the staple breakfast in Southern India for centuries. The cooked rice is soaked with cold water in earthen pots (manchatti) for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight. It is very important because, while soaking the cooked rice in cold water the lactic acid bacteria break down the anti - nutritional factors in rice resulting in an improved bioavailability of micro nutrients and minerals such as iron, potassium, and calcium by several thousand percentage points. As it gives the energy and cooling effect for the whole day, manual labourers consume this healthy gruel daily during olden days. Recently the researchers concluded that consumption of previous days cooked rice soaked in cold water is very good for health and is one of the best breakfast recipes ever. 

Pazham kanji is the gruel or porridge which is very popular among Keralites. Some think that it is just a cold porridge only. No, it is not. You must soak the rice in the traditional way, that is you must soak the cooked rice with cold water in earthen pots/manchatti. It is served the next day along with curd curry, stir fried veggies, pickle, papad and chillies (kantharimulak / bird's eye chilies). If you are a pure non-vegetarian, you can have it with previous days spicy fish curry (meen mulakittath)

Do you want to know the health benefits of pazham choru / pazham kanji/ fermented rice gruel?

• It provides a cooling effect for the whole day.
• When it is consumed in the morning, stomach ailments disappear for sure. 
• It removes constipation, as it is a fibrous food.
• It provides freshness throughout the day and gives extra energy.
• It removes all types of ulcers in our body.
• It helps in maintaining your youth and gives a glowing skin.
• It is a good source of vitamin B12 and B6.
• It helps in eliminating skin allergy. 
• It helps to control blood pressure, hyper tension and cholesterol.

You must use brown rice / red matta rice for making pazham kanji. Usually, pazham kanji is paired with shallots and chillies (kanthari mulaku) along with curd and salt. It can't explain that feeling in just words. So you must try this once for that heavenly feel. Here I paired my breakfast gruel with aviyal, cabbage stir fried, lemon pickle, squid roast, moru curry (spiced buttermilk), kanthari mulaku (bird's eye chilies) and a papad. So here is the recipe showing how to make pazham choru/pazham kanji/fermented rice gruel/healthy breakfast/ south Indian breakfast recipe/ gruel recipes/ Kerala cuisine/ Kerala food recipes/south indian recipes/pazhamkanji recipe/south indian food/indian breakfast recipes/porridge recipe/rice porridge/brown rice porridge.

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Green gram gruel payar paal kanji

INGREDIENTS

Cooked brown rice/ red matta rice - 1 cup

Cold water                                      - 1 cup (for soaking)

Bird's eye chilies(kanthari mulaku) - 2 or 3

Curd Curry or curd

Cabbage thoran or any other veggies stir fried

Lemon pickle or any other pickles

Squid roast, optional

Aviyal, optional

Salt

PREPARATION

Here is the video link for Pazham Kanji

• Cook the red matta rice and drain the water. Let it cools down to room temperature. 
• Once cooled, soak it in cold water in an earthen pot(manchatti). Cover it. Let it soak for about 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. 
• It will ferment by next morning. 
• Next day, take some fermented rice gruel(pazham kanji) in a bowl, sprinkle some salt, mash chilies with your hand and top rest of the side dishes to the bowl. Have it. Yummy.