Odias share an intimate relationship with their food. The fare is not just simple & made using minimal spices but is also extremely tasty. Diana Sahu checks out where to go and for what.
TEMPLE CUISINE
Even as every temple offers Abhada (offering to the Gods) as Prasad to devotees, Mahaprasad of Jagannath temple in Puri has a special place in Odia cuisine. Prepared in Desi Ghee without onion and garlic, it comprises of Arna (rice), Khechudi, Kanika (sweet rice), Mitha Dali, Dalma, Mahura (mixed vegetable stew with raw banana, yam and dried lentil dumplings), Saga and various other dishes. In fact, 56 varieties of dishes and sweets are prepared every day for the presiding deities of temple — Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. The Abhada of Ananta Basudev temple in Bhubaneswar is the most sought-after holy meal in Odisha after Lord Jagannath’s ‘Mahaprasad’.
INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL
A 16-day food festival will be organised by the Tourism Department and Bhubaneswar Municipal orporation at the Exhibition Ground from Dec 1.
Food lovers can relish Indian, Italian, Chinese and regional cuisines at the festival, which will see participation of over a dozen hotels and cafes, each representing a country theme, a nation theme and state theme. Odia street food thunka puri, chena tarkari, egg chop, chungudi chop, keema chop, pakodi, baigani, piazi, mugapiazi, gulgula, mutton chop, chicken pokada, mudhi mansa, jhal mudhi, dahi vada, kanji vada, aloo dum, malpua, pakodi and chaat will be available at the festival.
Hotel New Marrion will have Uttar Pradesh as the preferred state and Italy and Australia as preferred countries. Bocca Café will serve cuisine from Italy. Hotel Crown will have Rajasthan as preferred state, Malaysia as preferred country and serve Thunka Puri and Chena Tarkari under Odia cuisine.
PAHALA RASAGOLA
No Odia meal is complete without Rasagolas. Pahala, located on NH-5 between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, is Odisha’s biggest market selling the delicacy. Unlike other places in the country where the ubiquitous sweetmeat is spongy and has a rubber-like texture, here they are soft, served hot and taste divine. There are three markets selling Rasagola in Pahala — Kalinga, Prachi and Laxmi. These have around 120 confectioners. Their small shops with thatched roofs do not have anything fancy to lure customers except for the Rasagolas and two other varieties of yumies, Chenna Poda and Chenna Gaja. The confectioners belong to the small village of Pahala, located near the National Highway.
