Matta rice

Origin

Palakkadan matta rice was a favorite of Chola and Chera royalty. The Tamil classic Thirukkural mentions this rice, and it appears in the 1966 government publication Rice in Kerala by P.C. Sahadevan as chunnila matta.

Cultivation and trade

Kerala matta rice is grown in Kerala, Karnataka, and northern Sri Lanka. In Palakkad district, it is cultivated in dense black cotton soil called 'poonthalpadam', which contains much clay and silt and retains water well. A three-year export ban was partially lifted in February 2011, allowing 25,000 tonnes for export that year.

Characteristics

The grains are yellowish pink from parboiling, with reddish outer layers, and maintain their pink hue and flavour when cooked. It is a coarse variety with bold grains and red pericarp, grown on black cotton or regar soil derived from lime-rich rocks, as well as on poonthalpadam soil with 60–80% clay and silt, low permeability, and high water-holding capacity.

The humid weather of Palakkad, easterly winds through the Palakkad gap, and rivers from the Western Ghats also influence cultivation. Parboiled matta rice is harder than white rice and requires about thirty minutes of soaking before cooking. It is traditionally double cooked: washed, soaked for one hour to overnight, simmered with 4 to 8 parts water for 30 minutes, covered for 15–20 minutes, then salted and boiled another 15–20 minutes, drained, and left covered for 10–15 minutes before serving.

Did You Know?

• Paddy is thoroughly cleaned and destoned prior to boiling and drying, then graded, colour sorted in computerised machines, and well packed.
• One cup of Matta rice can contain 84 milligrams of magnesium and one gram of calcium, and also contains vitamins.
• Artificially colored matta rice, which can be harmful, is widely distributed through subsidized public distribution systems.