Panta Ilish

Panta ilish is cold, fermented rice eaten with fried hilsa, a fish that is central to Bengali cooking.

Panta is the name for rice soaked in water until it ferments and turns slightly sour, and ilish is the Bengali word for hilsa. The dish is traditionally eaten during Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year festival.

What it really is

Cooked rice is covered with water and left, usually overnight, until it ferments and takes on a sour taste. It is drained, salted and eaten cold, so the dish has none of the warmth of freshly cooked rice. The fish is hilsa, cleaned, salted and fried in mustard oil, which gives the fish a sharp, pungent flavour. Onion and chilli are the usual partners. The dish works on contrast: cool, sour rice against hot, rich fish.

Hilsa has a great many fine bones, so the fish is eaten carefully, picking the flesh away from the bones as you go.

How it's served

• Cold rice, not reheated, on the same plate as the fish.
• Fried hilsa, served hot beside or on top of the rice.
• Onion, chilli and salt on the side, so each guest can season the dish to taste.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the fish. Write "hilsa (ilish)" if it is hilsa, and name the fish you actually use if it is not.
• Flag fish and mustard (from the mustard oil) as allergens, and warn guests that the fish is bony.
• Say that the rice is fermented and served cold, so guests know what they are ordering.
• List onion, chilli and salt as the standard accompaniments, and sell any extra fish as a separate portion.
• State the weight of fish on the plate, since portions vary.