For centuries, the people of Odisha have turned to pakhala – a fermented rice dish – to beat the heat. Now it's gaining global attention.

It was a scorching hot day in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha in eastern India. As the temperature soared, my university friends and I rushed to the cafeteria for the meal we looked forward to most in summer: a bowl of pakhala (water rice). Light and tangy, the dish gave us immediate relief from the oppressive heat. Two decades later, as I sit in my apartment in the dry heat of Riyadh, it remains my go-to comfort food in summer, especially after a long day in the sun.

Pakhala is Odisha's unique summertime ritual. Also known as "poor man's gruel", the simple dish is made from leftover cooked rice soaked in water and fermented overnight in an earthen pot. It is usually mixed with yoghurt, tempered with mustard seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves and served with a variety of sides such as mashed potatoes, sautéed green leafy vegetables and fried fish.

Odias (people of Odisha) have consumed pakhala since ancient times since it's affordable and easy to prepare, yet nutritionally rich. "The earliest documented use of pakhala dates back to the 12th Century, when the dish was offered to Lord Jagannath (a Hindu deity worshipped in Odisha) at the Jagannath Temple in Puri," says Ritu Pattanaik, food historian and the author of the cookbook 259 Inherited Recipes of Odisha. "Even today, pakhala is one of the best foods to have when temperatures rise."

Odisha has always been an agrarian society, and rice is a staple. "In the olden days, it was typical for women in the house to add water to leftover rice from lunch. There was no refrigerator at the time, so this prevented the rice from spoiling. In the morning, men ate this fermented rice and water before heading out to work in the fields. Pakhala gave them energy and helped them beat the afternoon heat."

Central to pakhala's benefits is the slightly sour, probiotic-rich fermented water known as torani, which hydrates and protects the body against heat stroke. Once water and rice have undergone fermentation, torani becomes a rich source of lactic acid bacteria, which protect the stomach and intestines from infection and aid digestion.

"However, the benefits of torani don't end there," adds Dr Balamurugan Ramadass, professor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar. "In addition to probiotics, torani is a rich source of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) with antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. It also contains vitamin K, which [helps] heals wounds faster."

He notes that torani delivers instant energy to an exhausted body, "which is why farmers consume one to two litres of it before going to work every day. An average person with a desk job can have two to three cups of torani daily and still benefit from this healing beverage."

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So trusted are torani's health benefits that India's National Disaster Management Authority

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