Imagine yourself working tirelessly throughout the day and returning home completely exhausted and dehydrated!! The only thing that would satiate your hunger and act as a source of replenishment is mango rice! As you know, mangoes and summer season go hand in hand! The beginning of summer coincides with the arrival of the mangoes. And these delicious mangoes are summer’s joyous herald!

The spiced and tangy rice made from raw unripe green mangoes, the subtle sweetness of fresh coconut and the heat of the red chilies balance very well in this dish. On top of that, the tempering of curry leaves, mustard seeds and asafoetida perks up the flavors in the rice. This particular recipe is inspired by the raw mango rice that is made in Karnataka cuisine, also known as Mavinakayi Chitranna.

One of the most simple and easiest recipes is the mango rice and it is a wholesome tangy specialty that can be made with leftover rice for a refreshing change. Moreover, it is a healthy dish providing essential nourishment and calls for very less or almost no oil or ghee.

The trick for a quality mango rice dish is to cook till the grated mango mixture is tender and then add the cooked fluffy rice and mix well. So, this summer do prepare this dish and enjoy the aromatic flavors of the seasonal raw mango.

It is a known fact that a large portion of the world’s population depends on rice for food. 20% of the calories consumed worldwide is being contributed by rice. Rice is grown in various conditions characterized by different temperatures, climates and soil-water conditions. However, adverse environmental conditions seriously threaten rice production, causing enormous losses in large areas of the world.

The biotic and the abiotic stresses, such as drought, high salinity, high and low temperatures, flooding, high light, ozone, low nutrient availability all represent a serious threat to sustainable rice production. On the other hand, biotic stresses brought by biological agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, etc. further reduce rice productivity.

Methods have been extensively investigated at physiological, biochemical, genetic and molecular levels to curb the biotic and abiotic stress. Unprecedented opportunities have been offered via the availability of high-throughput techniques for the dissection of the complex signaling pathways and the regulatory gene networks involved in such responses, new tools for the targeted manipulation of stress-related traits are being provided. There are numerous genetically modified rice varieties tolerated to abiotic and biotic stresses. Epigenetic modifications and even spaceflight environment can be quite effective in generating changes at both levels.

Cereals play an important role, providing most important source of calories to humans and rice contributes almost 23% calories globally. Rice is the staple diet of almost half of the population of the world, and it is a well-known economical cereal. The rice production hit a drastic change with the adoption of green revolution. Breeding programs need to evolve to cope with the increase in population and provide pest and disease resistance to the crops. Moreover, the main purpose of genetic transformation is to generate rice with useful phenotypes i.e unachieveable conventional plant breeding, to correct faults in cultivars more efficiently than conventional breeding.

It also helps in yield improvement, more resistant to disease and pest resistance, herbicides tolerance, better nutritional value, increased shelf life, better climatic survival by increasing tolerance to drought. One of the essential requirements in a gene transfer system for production of transgenic rice is the availability of a target tissue including cells competent for plant regeneration, a method to introduce DNA into those re-generable cells and a procedure to select and to re-generate transformed plants at a satisfactory frequency. Rice needs more production with the gradual rise in population and genetic transformation is the only solution in the coming years.

One of the most traditional Karnataka recipes is the Bisi Bele Bath (or Indian Rice lentil dish) that is prepared in every household of Karnataka. The dish is extremely popular among the vegetarian folks, who do not favor onions and garlic. Instead of onions or garlic, fresh coconut, poppy seeds, or dry coconut is used. This is also consumed by people who are sick as it has various nutritional values.

Although modern versions of this particular dish exist, in this blog only the traditional way of preparing Bisi Bele Bath would be discussed.  The dish also known as Bisi Bele huli anna can be better understood as bisi( hot) bele(lentils) huli (sour) and anna(rice). The dish is actually dal and rice cooked together with tamarind and spice powders. And the dish tastes splendid when served hot and seasoned in ghee.

Depending upon personal preference, the rice and the dal can be cooked together or separately. The dal can be made mushy, however the rice is cooked grainly. If this is done, the smooth creamy taste of the Bisi Bele Bath can be felt. So with the richness of rice and dal you get to enjoy a lovely dish which would definitely make you content, provide you proper nourishment and last but not the least happy!

“Rice is Life” and the proverb is truly apt. It is the staple diet of most of the population of the world, especially in the Indian subcontinent. And, in many regions rice is actually worshipped, and people consider it to be a blessing. It has numerous health benefits which provides an instant source of energy to the body, and it is not only good for the skin but also in maintaining blood sugar levels.

• Rice acts as a source of fuel for the body, since it is a rich source of carbohydrates. It is actually made up of long chains of complex carbohydrates, that takes time to break down, and the starch present in rice is beneficial for diabetics.
• Rice is rich in minerals such as calcium and iron, and also rich in vitamins, such as niacin, Vitamin D, thiamine and riboflavin. It also helps in digestion, and contains very low amount of saturated fats and cholesterol making it heart-healthy.
• Rice provides immunity power and controls various diseases as it contains antioxidant properties that protect the heart by minimising the occurrence of heart diseases and stroke. And it is also known to prevent Alzheimer’s disease to an extent.

• Rice is known to protect the body against cancer, and the rice fibre acts as a shield against cancerous cells.
• Rice is known to prevent constipation, as it contains very low amount of sodium.
• People suffering from celiac disease and those who are allergic to proteins such as those found in wheat, barley, rye and oats can actually switch their diet to rice, as it is gluten-free.
• And last but not the least, rice is considered beneficial to those people who intend to lose weight, due to its low-fat content.
  It is only a rumour that consuming rice makes us obese. On the contrary, it helps in controlling our weight and is highly nutritious boosting one’s health.

Rice is the staple diet in many parts of the world. In the wake of digital advancement and the recent trend to ‘hit the gym’ has resulted in a lot of myths and rumors. Well, it’s high time we start debunking them.

• Rice is rich in Gluten: Foods rich in gluten are bad for diabetic patients and the ones who are trying to lose weight. Rice is actually gluten-free and it does not result in allergies associated with other grains.
• Rice leads to fattening: Rice contains carbohydrates and is a good source of energy and is actually low in fats and cholesterol free.
• Rice contains no protein: As a matter of fact, a cup of white rice contains 3-4 gms of protein and is the second-most abundant nutrient found in rice. In fact, the quality of protein present in rice is very high compared to other grains.
• High amount of salt in rice: Rice contains a low amount of sodium.

• It is not easily digestible: Rice is very easy to digest and the enzymes secreted in the human digestive tract are especially good for digesting rice. If you are consuming white rice, the germ layers, bran and husk are all stripped off in the processing system which makes it easy to digest it.
• Consuming rice for dinner leads to obesity: Contrary to the popular belief, high carb foods like rice should be consumed at night as they are metabolized into glucose, the energy stocks. The glucose is converted into energy at night more easily. Glucose converts into fat during the day, hence rice and other grains should be avoided at lunch.

Thus, like all other carbohydrates, rice gets ultimately broken down into glucose inside the gastrointestinal tract. And for survival we need glucose, the ultimate source of energy for the human body.

The time when the earth was young and everything used to be primitive and simple and let’s say better than they are now, men and women were stronger. This is because the food was available in the purest form and there were no diseases. The fruits were larger, sweeter and rice, the staple diet of the Indian people was of larger grain.

A man could only manage to eat one grain, i.e. rice and led a simple lifestyle due to the fact that in those days the people never had to toil collecting the rice, for, when ripe, it fell from the stalks and rolled into the villages, even unto the granaries. Upon a year when the rice was larger and more plentiful than before, a widow said to her daughter “Our granaries are too small. We will pull them down and build larger.”

When the granaries were being made ready for use, the rice were already ripe and it came rolling in where the work was going on. And the widow, infuriated, struck a grain and cried, ‘”Could you not wait in the fields until we were ready? You should not bother us now when you are not wanted.”’

As a result, the rice broke into thousand pieces and then the reply came “From this time forth, we will wait in the fields until we are wanted,” and since then rice has been of small grain, and the people of the earth started gathering it into the granary from the fields.

Rice is undoubtedly the most important crop in the world, and particularly in Asia where food security is considered as having stable prices for rice in the major urban areas of the nation. India accounts for 20% of rice production worldwide and is the largest producer after China. The productivity in India increased from 80 million tonnes in 1980 to around 157 million tonnes (as of 2014).

The productivity has increased because an increase of 3 million hectares was noted by 2014. As per the report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, India’s rice production reached to a record high of 104.32 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year (July-June).

On the business and trade front, India being a rice importer in the initial years of the 1980s, India transformed itself with production of 157 million tonnes and exports around 11 million tonnes. Since 2011, India is the largest exporter of rice in the world market. Rice has maintained a positive growth in yield, and if the overall agricultural GDP has to grow, the onus is on higher rice yields. And since the arsenic level in countries like USA is more than 0.3 mg/kg of arsenic, the advantage is with India to dominate the world market in terms of meeting the Codex standard.

The influence of rice on humankind has been significant. Rice has been grown in Asia for the past 7,000 years. Latest reports suggest that this may in fact be 10,000 years. It is cultivated on all continents except Antarctica. About half of the world’s population is dependent on rice as a staple food.

Typically a grass, there are two major varieties, scientifically known as Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. Both came from a common ancestor that was distributed across Gondwanaland, the ancient super continent that would break up and become the modern continents of Africa and Asia. These plants are indigenous to southern Asia and south-eastern Africa.

Many communities associate rice with a goddess or mother figure. She is Dewi Sri or Bhatari Sri’ in Bali. In Thailand, rice is referred to as ‘Mother Rice’. In India, she is Annapoorna.

Different cultures have different stories about how rice originated. The Chinese people believe it to be a gift from the animals. Once upon a time, China was hit by severe flood. The people ran up to the hills to seek shelter. After the water receded, they found all the plants to be dead. They tried hunting but there were helpless as few animals remained. As the legend goes, one day, some people saw a dog running across a field. There were bundles of stalks with yellow seeds around its neck. The people cultivated these seeds and called the plants “rice”. They were not hungry anymore with rice to thrive on. This is why rice is considered to more precious than jewels in Chinese culture.

“Bangalir baro mashe tero parbon” Bengalis are food-lovers and with the change of seasons, the food proclivity also changes. Bengalis without sweets is unimaginable and Pitha Puli or Patishapta is a highly appreciable part of Bengali cuisine. And since, rice forms an essential staple diet of the Bengalis, the pitha puli is the perfect traditional winter Bengali pancake recipe or rice cakes, which is primarily stuffed with Kheer or Khowa. The main ingredient in these delicious eastern Indian region dish are rice flour.

Pithas are preferred usually during the winter time, and heartily enjoyed as a part of snacks and with tea. The rice dumplings form an essential part of the recipe, with which is mixed with salt and two teaspoon oil is added to a cup boiling water. The sweet pithas generally contain sugar, jaggery, date juice, or palm syrup and the filling is done with grated coconut, cashews or fruits.

Pitha fairs has been celebrated by generations of rice cultivating farmers of Bengal. Now many people gather to commemorate the occasion from both Bengal and outside the state. Even though Pithas have their variation across the north-eastern region, it is not only restricted to Bengal, Bihar, or Odhisa. With the advent of facilities they are now transported to different parts of the nation, so that people can enjoy the exotic North-eastern treat!!!