TV
With unique cultural and social customs, the western part of Odisha has a distinctive identity of its own.
Here, let's explore western Odisha's interesting authentic food platter that may surprise you with its remarkable cooking method and flavour.
Kardi saga:
Kardi or bamboo shoot chopped and cooked with tender pumpkin leaves. They are mainly paired with rice.
Hendua:
The fibrous parts of the bamboo shoots are sliced, fermented, and dried to store and used as Hendua over the year. It's a basic ingredient in other traditional Western dishes like Ambil, patalghanta chatni, fish-based dish jhuri, etc.
Sarsatia:
A sweet and crunchy snack made of a batter of resin extract of Ganjer tree, rice flour, sugar, and water which is poured into hot oil and deep fried with a vermicelli kind texture.
Kadalifeni:
A salty flour-based snack relished with sugar syrup and cinnamon powder and deep-fried in the shape of bananas.
Ruguda Chhati:
A forgotten Odia cuisine which is prepared using certain types of fungus, Ruguda, mainly found in deep jungles. They have a distinct earthy flavour and are cooked with veggies and spices.
Tol Bhaja:
The fruit of the mahua tree is savoured by deseeding them, chopping the flesh into little pieces, and stir-frying them with mustard oil with an incredible aromatic flavour.
Letha:
It's made using various veggies, boiled rice water, ambula or a type of mango pickle, and tempered with mustard, spices, Kardi, chilli, and curry leaves, giving it a notable sour and tangy flavour.
Patra-puda-jhuri:
It’s a small fish curry made with the fish, Jarda. It’s marinated in spices, wrapped in Saal leaves, and cooked in mud chullah, adding an exquisite flavour to the dish.
* The information here and the pictures used have been referred from the journal “CUISINE AND CULTURE: A HISTORY OF FOOD AND PEOPLE OF WESTERN ODISHA” by Sasmita Rani Shasini & Suchismita Naik.
