Delicious traditional Odia recipes that you must try

Food is an integral part of every culture. It is a flavourful celebration of tradition through recipes passed down from older to new generations. Odia food is known for its healthy and largely oil-free cooking. Being a coastal state, most dishes in Odisha are rice-based and seek to be cooling to the body. 

Odia food offers a broad range of items ranging from savoury snacks, to filling main course items to delectable desserts like the delightful chhena poda. While some items like Mayurbhanj’s tribal red ant chutney and Koraput’s coffee are not very well known, the Odia food is such that it has something to offer everyone. Here is a selection of Odia food for you to try.

Pakhala Bhat 

Pakhala is a staple meal during summer in Odisha. It is essentially rice fermented overnight in water, enjoyed with a side of fish, fried vegetables and pickles. Being a cooling meal, this Odia dish helps to prevent heat strokes during the relentless hot season. So strong is the emotional connection between Odias and Pakhala, that this dish has a designated day for itself. Pakhala divas (pakhala day) is celebrated every year on March 20. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup rice
• Water 
• 1 grated mango ginger (optional)
• 1 green chilly 
• Chopped coriander leaves 
• 25 gms curd
• Salt (to taste)

How to make Dahi Pakhal:

1. First, wash and cook rice in an open vessel. Strain its water and set aside. 
2. In a deep-bottomed bowl, add your cooked rice with water, which should be level with the rice. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for 8-10 hours. 
3. After 8-10 hours, add curd to this rice. Add chopped green chillies, coriander leaves, grated ginger or mango ginger and salt to the mixture. 
4. Serve it in a bowl and enjoy it with fried fish or vegetables, papad, saag or condiments of your liking.

Dalma

From nutritious, to delicious, to filling, this popular dal (lentils) from Odisha ticks all the boxes. Dalma, a popular Odia dish, is a dal made with a variety of vegetables and spices. A typical Odia platter almost always consists of dalma, along with rice, tomato chutney, fried vegetables and kheer (rice pudding). 

Ingredients:

• Dal: 3 cups cooked toor dal (Pigeon Pea Lentils)
• 2-3 cups water
• Vegetables: 1 drumstick (peeled and chopped)
• 1 raw banana, 1 big potato (peeled and diced)
• 10-12 beans (diced)
• 0.5 cup diced pumpkin
• 2 brinjals, diced
• 1 tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp mustard oil

Spices:  1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp panch phoran (whole spice mix), 1 bay leaf, and salt to taste

Garnish: 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

To make the Dalma: 

1. Begin by simmering 3 cups of pre-cooked toor dal with turmeric in a pot.
2. Then, add in your chopped vegetables, like drumsticks, beans, and pumpkin. Season with salt and cook partially covered until the vegetables are done halfway.
3. Add eggplant and continue cooking until most of the vegetables are tender.
4. Toss in chopped tomatoes and cook everything together until all the vegetables are fully cooked through. Adjust seasonings to taste. Set aside.

To prepare the tempering: 

1. In another pan, heat mustard oil and add panch phoran.
2. When the spices begin to crackle, toss in a bay leaf and sliced onions. Sauté this mixture until the onions turn translucent.
3. Add red chilli powder and cumin powder, then cook for a minute.
4. Pour the lentil and vegetable mixture into the pan with the fried spices. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add some water if the consistency becomes too thick.
6. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or roti (flat bread). 

Also Read: Indian food: Delicacies from the heartland

Khajuri Khatta 

This savoury tomato and dates chutney, a popular traditional Odia dish, goes well with both main course meals as well as snacks. This tangy blend of sweet and sour flavours induced by the combination of tomatoes, dates and flavorful spices, is loved by both adults and children alike.

Ingredients: 

• 15 to 20 dates (pre-soaked and chopped)
• 3 ripe tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Some curry leaves
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated
• 2 green chilies, chopped
• 1/4 cup jaggery, grated
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

How to make the khajuri khatta: 

1. In a pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves. Let it splutter.
2. Now add chopped tomatoes, dates, ginger, and green chilies. Cook this mixture until the tomatoes turn soft.
3. Add red chilli powder, jaggery, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix it well and cook for a few more minutes till the chutney becomes thick.
4. Turn off the heat and remove your khajuri khatta from the stove.
5. You can choose to eat this hot as a side dish with rice and dalma
6. Alternatively, you can also store the chutney in a jar and refrigerate it to enjoy it alongside snacks.

Kanika

This traditional Odia dish of sweet rice is a classic in Odisha. Mostly prepared during festive occasions, it is also one of the items of Lord Jagannath’s 56 bhog mahaprasad (offering). It has a rich sweet taste infused with the aroma of ghee, cardamom and basmati rice. It is enjoyed with condiments like tomato chutney, dalma and papad. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup basmati rice 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 green cardamom 
• 4 tbsp clarified butter (ghee) 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp turmeric 
• 1/3 cup sugar 
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 10-12 raisins 
• 2 cup water 

How to make: 

1. Wash the basmati rice thoroughly until water runs clear and soak for 30 minutes. Then drain the water and spread the rice on a plate for 10 minutes.
2. Now heat the ghee in a pan and fry cashews and raisins until they turn golden and plump. After this, remove and set aside your fried dry fruits.
3. In the same pan heat fresh ghee and add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom. Fry these till they release their fragrance. 
4. Now add your drained rice to this pan and stir-fry until it turns shiny.
5. Add turmeric, salt, and water to this and mix well. Proceed to cover and cook the rice until 3/4ths done.
6. Add sugar, cinnamon powder, a pinch of salt, cashews and raisins, and the remaining ghee and mix well. Now let your kanika cook until the water dries out. 
7. Finally, turn off the heat and garnish the sweet rice with cashews and raisins. 
8. Enjoy this sweet treat plain or with dal or tomato chutney, as per your liking.

Also Read: Fish on The Menu: A tale of reverse migration, malnutrition and tribals of Odisha

Monda Pitha

Pitha or rice cakes come in various shapes, sizes and flavours in Odisha. One such variant is a sweet delicacy called monda pitha. Stuffed with a juicy coconut filling in a rice cake, this Odia dish of pitha is widely relished during festivals. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups rice flour
• 2 cups grated coconut
• 250 gms jaggery
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp black pepper powder

To make the filling:

1. Heat a pan with the jaggery in it. Once the jaggery starts melting, add the grated coconut and stir-fry this mixture. 
2. Now sprinkle 1 tsp black pepper powder, cardamom powder and grated ginger and mix well.
3. When this mixture begins to dry, take it out on a plate and keep it aside. 

To make the dough: 

1. Heat a pan and add 1 cup of water, salt and rice flour to it. 
2. Mix these ingredients well, until it forms a soft dough. Now keep it aside to cool down.
3. When the mixture comes to room temperature knead the dough well for about 2 to 3 minutes.

To make the dumpling: 

1. Now to arrange the dumplings, divide the dough into 10 to 12 pieces of similar shapes.
2. Take one ball of the dough and flatten it. Stuff the coconut mixture into it and cover it to give it a round shape.
3. Proceed to steam the dumplings in a steamer for 5 to 6 minutes. Once cooked, take them out of the steamer. 
4. Finally the monda pitha is ready to eat. You may choose to enjoy it either hot or cold.

The lead image shows a collage of delicacies of Odisha (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)