Western Odisha delicacies are absolute treats !!

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 25:

Western Odisha delicacies are  culinary delights filled with dishes that win palates and hearts with their authentic taste and flavour. Odisha Sun Times brings to you few delicious dishes that are a treat for the taste buds.

Kardi

Except for the strong smell you may mistake it for flat noodles! These are raw, tender bamboo shoots which are cooked and eaten as delicacies and also made into lip-smacking pickles known as kardi achar.

 Hendua chutchuta

photo courtesy: oriyarasoi.blogspot.in

Hendua is the dried version of kardi. Not everyone can eat this as this needs acquiring a taste for it. Hendua has a strong odour and adds a tangy taste which may put you off but fans of hendua can vouch for its exotic taste. It is used mainly to flavour and enhance simple dishes. Commonly known to be a poor man’s food, it becomes a delicacy when mashed with roasted tomatoes or small fish known as jhuri.                                                                                             

 Patalghanta dhuldula

Photo courtesy: sublime palate.com

Tomato is known as Patalghanta in western Odisha. This is roasted or sauted lightly in oil and mashed to which mustard oil, chopped onions and green chillies are added. This dish is also enjoyed in other parts of Odisha and equally relished by all.

 Lethaa:

Letha is an authentic and traditional dish of Western Odisha. Basically it is a soupy- dish with different vegetables consisting of  a unique spicy-sour taste. In some places this is also identified as ambil.

5. Jhuri Purga

This delectable dish has small fish (known as Jarda) cooked in mustard paste and flavoured with lemon juice. Eaten with rice this dish is favoured by all.

6. Chaul bara

A crunchy snack just like bara made of rice powder and black gram , this is an all time favourite chatpata snack. Usually baras are made out of urad daal, but the use of rice powder makes it more scrumptious and different from the others.

7. Rasbaraa

Soaked moong dal is ground to which crushed cardamoms and baking soda are added ,which is whisked and made into a paste. Small balls of this paste are fried golden brown and dunked in the sugar syrup for 4-5 minutes. This sweet and tasty dish just melts in the mouth and is an apt sweet dish.

 Sarsatiaa

This sweet delicacy is becoming extinct. Sarsatia resembles vermicelli and tastes crunchy, sweet and crisp. The most interesting part is that the twigs from the tree Ganjer are used to make the resin to which sugar is added to prepare the sweet base. The dhenki kuta arua powder (rice powder) and sugar is mixed with water to make the batter which is fried in the shape of vermicelli.

9. Tikhri

It is a desi pudding made out of moong, jaggery and water. The moong can be substituted with mandia (millet) and palluai. This dish is good for the stomach and healthy too.

 Gaham bara

Gaham Bara or gulgula is a sweet dumpling made out of wheat batter, deep fried and dunked into a sweet syrup.

 Ruguda chati

photo courtesy: Fb page Pramodini Kitchen

Typical variety of mushroom that is found only during the monsoons is used in this dish. The earthy taste is the USP of this dish and  this edible mushroom, which grows only in dense forests is usually handpicked by tribal women who go deep into the forests to collect them. These mushrooms are mostly found under trees and give a run to any non-vegetarian dish any day.

 Elojhelo Kadalifeni

A crunchy, crisp and salty khaja, the shape of this snack looks like a bunch of bananas and hence is called kadalifeni.

 Tol bhaja

Photo coutesy: Pramodini's Kitchen

Tol is the fruit of the Mahua tree and the flowers are known as Mahul phul. A distinct dish of western Odisha the Tol fruit is de-seeded and the flesh is cut into pieces, mixed with particular vegetables or saag to be made into a mouth-watering dish.