Oriya cuisine
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Oriya cuisine relates to the cooking of the eastern Indian state of Orissa. The cuisine is rich and varied, while relying heavily on local ingredients. The flavors are usually subtle and delicately spiced, quite unlike the fiery curries typically associated with Indian cuisine. Fish and other seafood such as crab and shrimp are very popular. Chicken and mutton are also consumed. Only 6% of the population of Orissa is vegetarian, and this is reflected in its cuisine. Pancha-phutana, a mix of cumin, mustard, fennel, fenugreek and kalonji (nigella) is widely used for tempering vegetables and dals, while garam masala (curry powder) and haladi (turmeric) are commonly used for non-vegetarian curries. Pakhala, a dish made of rice, water, and yoghurt, that is fermented overnight, is very popular in summer, particularly in the rural areas. Oriyas are very fond of sweets and no Oriya repast is considered complete without some dessert at the end.
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[edit] Oriya origins of Rasagolla and Kheer
Orissa has a culinary tradition spanning centuries if not millennia. The kitchen of the famous Jagannath temple in Puri is reputed to be the largest in the world, with a thousand chefs, working around 752 wood-burning clay hearths called chulas, to feed over 10,000 people each day.
Rasagolla, one of the most popular desserts in India, is in fact an Oriya invention. It had been enjoyed in Orissa for centuries before being passed on to neighboring Bengal. The well-known rice pudding, kheeri (kheer) that is relished all over India, also originated in Puri two thousand years ago.
In fact, some well-known recipes, usually credited to Bengal, are of Orissan origin. This is because during the Bengal renaissance, brahmin cooks from Orissa, especially from Puri, were routinely employed in richer Bengali households. They were famed for their culinary skills and commonly referred to as Ude Thakurs (Oriya brahmin-cooks). As a result, many Oriya delicacies got incorporated into the Bengali kitchen.
[edit] Typical Oriya meals
A typical meal in Orissa consists of a main course and dessert. Typically breads are served as the main course for breakfast and dinner, whereas rice is eaten with lentils (dals) during lunch. The main course also includes one or more curries, vegetables and pickles. Given the fondness for sweet foods, the dessert course may include generous portions of more than a single item. Oriya desserts are made from a variety of ingedients, with milk, chhenna (a form of ricotta cheese), coconut, rice, and wheat flour being the most common.
[edit] Food items
[edit] Rice, breads & lentils
- Channa Dali - Channa dal with coconuts, raisins, dry fruits, mild spices
- Dalma - Mixed lentils with various vegetables, is popular due to the high nutritional value adn consumed as a complete food.
- Khechedi - Rice and lentils with vegetables and occasionally potato. It is a general food at religious festivals. Flavoured with Bay leaves and dry red chillies. It is also a wholesome food. The variation of the same food with lamb meat/others is called khichda in various other cuisines.
- Luchi - Unleavened flour bread deep fried in oil. The food is also popularly known as puri when made of aata [unleavened flour]. Luchi is the preparation from leavened flour [ maida]
- Mitha Bhata - Mildly sweetened rice with assorted spices
- Moong Dal - Mung bean dal cooked with coconuts and mild spices
- Parata - Layered wheat bread rolled out in triangular or round shape and tawa-fried
- Polao - Rice in clarified butter with raisins, nuts, vegetables, whole spices
- Puri - Unleavened whole wheat flour bread deep fried in oil
- Pakhala - Rice fermented in water with yoghurt and seasonings.
[edit] Curries, vegetables, and other main course items
- Alu Bhaja - Potato slices fried in oil with whole spices
- Alu Dum - Spicy potato curry
- Alu Mattar - Diced potatoes and peas curry
- Alu Phoolkobi Bhaja - Diced potato and cauliflower florets sauteed in oil and spices
- Alu Potala Rasa - Curried potatoes and gourd
- Besara - Assorted vegetables stir fried in panch phutana, mild pastes and oil
- Charchari - Sauteed mixed vegetables, diced potatoes and shrimp in a spicy mustard sauce
- Chhencheda - Lightly spiced fish head and mixed vegetables
- Chungdi Malai - Freshwater prawn cooked in coconut milk and spices
- Crab Kalia - A spicy crab curry
- Dahi Baingana - Deep fried eggplant slices in a spiced yoghurt sauce
- Dahi Maachha - fried fish in a mildly spiced yoghurt sauce
- Ghanto/Ghanta - Vegetable medley and spice powders sauteed in oil
- Ghuguni - Boiled Peas and spices cooked in oil and then lightly curried
- Kankara Jhola - Crab meat and potatoes in a rich gravy with panch phutana
- Khatta - Literally meaning "sour" in Oriya, a sweet and sour marmalade served as a side
- Maachha Jhola - Fish curry, in a spicy gravy seasoned with mustard, cumin and turmeric
- Posto - Poppyseed paste cooked with assorted vegetables and/or potato
- Soriso Maacha - Pan fried fish in a mustard gravy
- Saaga - Fried green leafy vegetables sometimes with lentil balls (bori)
- Santula - Lightly spiced assortment of steamed vegetables
- Tomato chutney - A very sweet chutney made of tomatoes, dates and sugar.
[edit] Desserts & snacks
- Chhena Gaja - Deep fried ricotta cheese soaked in sugar syrup
- Chhenna Poda - Baked sweetened ricotta cheese cake
- Chhena Kheeri - A kheer made with cubes of ricotta cheese
- Chhena Jalebi - A jalebi made with kneaded ricotta cheese
- Kalakand - Shaped sweets made from condensed milk
- Khaja - Shaped dough fried and drizzled with sugar syrup
- Kheeri - Rice cooked in sweetened condensed milk
- Kheersagar - cheese dumplings in condensed milk
- Laddoo - Sweet balls made from lentils and dry fruits
- Lassi - Sweet chilled yoghurt drink, occasionally flavored in rose water
- Malpua - Sweetened deep fried batter of a mixture of bananas and flour
- Mitha Dahi - Sweet yoghurt with a hint of cardamom
- Pitha - Coconut, lentil, jaggery, condensed dairy products in crepes
- Rasmalai - Cheese dumplings in thickened, sweetened milk
- Rasabali - Flattened disks of ricotta cheese soaked in sweetened condensed milk
- Rasagolla - Cheese dumplings in sugar syrup. The most famous among these are the ones prepared in pahala [ a place near Bhubaneswar]
[edit] External links
- Oriya Recipe Portal Oriya Food
- Oriya Foods page of Oriya Nari
- Oriya Kitchen
- Recipes of Orissa
- Oriya cuisine
- Subtle Flavors of Oriya Cuisine
- From the land of Jagannath
- Recipes of Oriya Cuisine
- Another forgotten food culture to the fore
- The Aroma of Orissa
- Some Oriya Recipes
- Lokpriya Oriya Cuisine
- Oriya Cuisine
- Regional Cooking of India: Orissa
