RoseMatta rice (also known as Palakkadan/Kerala Matta rice, or Kaje Rice) ( ml, കേരള മട്ട, Tulu:കജെ അരി) is an indigenous variety of rice grown in the

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated munici ...

district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is known for its coarseness and health benefits. It is popular in Kerala and coastal Karnataka in India and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

where it is used on a regular basis for idlies, appams and plain rice; it is different from

brown rice Brown rice is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain without the h ...

. The robust and earthy flavour of Red Matta makes it suitable to accompany lamb, beef or game meats.

Origin

Palakkadan matta rice was the choice of the royal families of

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

and Chera dynasties of India. Kerala matta rice has been historically popular due to its rich and unique taste. It is used in preparations of rice-snacks like ''Kondattam'', ''Murukku'' etc. References to chunnila matta can be found in the work ''Rice in Kerala'' authored by Sri. P.C. Sahadevan and published by the Government of Kerala in 1966. The rice is mentioned in Tamil classics such as ''Thirukkural''. Rice in the days of the Chera/Chola kingdoms was considered a royal food.

Cultivation and trade

Kerala matta rice is grown in

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

in southern

. Matta rice gives Kerala farmers a premium of Rs. 300 for 500 kg of paddy. A three-year ban on the export of matta rice was partially lifted in February 2011, allowing 25,000 tonnes to be exported in 2011. Palakkadan matta rice is cultivated in the dense black cotton soil of

Palakkad district Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...

in Kerala. The rice has a distinct earthly flavour because of the type of soil in which it is cultivated. These

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-A ...

s are called 'poonthalpadam' and the soil contains a lot of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

. Because of these qualities, this kind of paddy fields can retain more water.

Characteristics

The grains are yellowish pink (from being parboiled) with reddish outer layers. Rose matta rice maintains its pink hue as well as its flavour on cooking. Like all brown or parboiled rice, red matta has a lengthy cooking time and requires extra water. Kerala matta rice

Uniqueness

Palakkadan matta rice is registered under the

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

s of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 by the Palakkad Matta Farmers Producer Company Ltd. It is a coarse variety of rice with bold grains and red pericarp. The rice has a unique taste. The coarse rice with red pericarp by itself ensures high content of nutrients. Par-boiling of the rice further ensures retention of nutritional value. The grains are grown on unique black cotton or regar soil, derived from rocks rich in lime peculiar to Palakkad, also in Poonthalpadam where the soil is heavy, containing 60–80% of clay and silt and possess low permeability and high water holding capacity. These soils, the humid weather of Palakkad, easterly winds that blow through the Palakkad gap and the rivers that flow from the Western Ghats.

Preparation

Parboiled rice is harder than white rice and needs some thirty minutes of soaking before cooking. Matta rice is traditionally double cooked. The rice is washed in a large pan and left to soak from 1 hour to overnight. The rice is drained and simmered with 4 to 8 parts water for 30 minutes. It is then covered and left for 15–20 minutes. The rice is then salted and boiled for another 15–20 minutes or until cooked. It is finally drained and left covered for a further 10–15 minutes before serving..Easy way is boil water and put rice for 25 minutes it will cook then drain the leftover water.

Quality

Paddy is thoroughly cleaned and destoned prior to boiling and drying process. Final finished rice is graded for removing brokens and again colour sorted in computerised sorting machines and well packed.

Nutrition benefits

Palakkadan Matta rice is more nutritious than white polished rice because parboiling before milling retains some nutrients. One serving cup of 1/4 size can contain 160 calories and 1 gram of fibre.

White rice White rice is milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage, extend its storage life, and makes it easier to digest. After milling ( hulling), t ...

doesn't contain any fibre. The brown outer layer of the Matta rice contains many nutrients and white rice is made by polishing away this valuable layer. One cup of Matta rice can contain 84 milligrams of

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...

and one gram of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...

. It also contains vitamins.

E-commerce application by farmers

Some farms have adopted technology to ship matta rice from the farm to customers.

Personalisation

An agrarian family in Palakkad introduced a smartphone application to order personalised matta rice. The application allows customers to choose the bran content of the rice that they order.

Adulteration

A serious health hazard is the wide availability of artificially colored matta rice. The color added for this purpose can be harmful to the body. There are complaints that such varieties are widely distributed through the subsidized public distribution systems on which the poor depend heavily.

References

{{Varieties of rice Rice varieties Kerala cuisine Culture of Palakkad district Geographical indications in Kerala Agriculture in Kerala