Durga Puja festivities are synonymous with family get-togethers, pandal hopping, fun, and most importantly delicious foods.
In Odisha, Durga Puja is one of the most important festivals and is celebrated in every nook and corner of the state. Everybody irrespective of their social and financial status celebrates the festival with great zeal and happiness. From wearing new outfits to eating most scrumptious food, everyone is over-excited about it and begins planning days before the puja festivities.
Every household has its own recipes for Durga Puja which they have for generations. We have listed some dishes that are typically made in Odia homes during Durga Puja festivities:
Mutton Kassa
Mutton Kassa is one of the most loved non-veg dishes of Odias. It is a dry mutton recipe with a thick gravy than the regular mutton curry.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg mutton
- 2 medium potatoes
- 500 gm chopped onion
- 100 gm ginger paste
- 100 gm garlic paste
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 green chilies
- 6 tsp red chili powder
- 6 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp tomatoes (chopped)
- 100 gm yogurt
- 250 gm mustard oil
- 1 spoonful garam masala
Method:
- First, marinate the mutton pieces in yogurt, salt, and a little amount of mustard oil for at least one hour.
- Then cut the potatoes into four halves and fry in oil till it is golden brown. Set aside for later use
- Heat the oil in a pan and add green chilies, bay leaves, and the chopped onion and fry on low flame.
- When the onions become soft and lightly golden, add ginger garlic paste with a pinch of salt.
- Prepare a paste beforehand mixing the whole amount of turmeric and red chili powder with water and add it just after adding ginger garlic paste.
- Cook the mixture for 5 min on low flame.
- Add the mutton and salt (according to taste). Cook it on low flame until the mutton becomes soft.
- Add the chopped tomato and a spoonful of garam masala and cook it on high flame. Add the fried aloo at this stage so, it can soak the curry.
- When the mixture becomes dry, add a cup of water with a pinch of salt
- Cook for 5 min in high flame. Mutton Kassa is ready to serve with rice or roti.
Khechudi
Khechudi is one of the most common dishes which is made in every household during Durga Puja. It is also made at the Puja pandals and served as bhog.
Ingredients
- 300gm white rice
- 100g moong dal
- 1 tsp Jeera
- 2 bay leaf
- 1-inch ginger (crushed/grated)
- 2-inch cinnamon
- 5-6 black peppercorns
- Sugar (as per your liking)
- 1 cup coconut (grated)
- 3tps ghee
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt
Method:
- To start with, grate the coconut. Wash the rice and moong dal properly.
- Heat ghee (2tps) in a pan, and add bay leaf, jeera, ginger, cinnamon, and black peppercorns. Then add the rice and moong dal to it and stir it properly. Fry it in a slow flame for 5 mins.
- When it’s well fried, add water (double the amount of rice) and salt to it and cover it.
- When the water starts boiling, slow down the flame.
- When the rice is almost half cooked add the sugar and grated coconut into it.
- When cooked, add ghee (1tps) and remove from flame.
- It can be served with serve with curd or any chutney or pickle.
Manda Pitha
Manda pitha is a steamed pitha that is traditionally made in Odia households on Manabasa Gurubara, Durga Puja, Kumar Purnima or Rakhi Purnima. This pitha has many variations and can be made with rice flour, and semolina also. Manda pitha can be made with both sweet and savoury fillings. Here we have shared the classic sweet filling which made from coconut and jaggery.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 cup freshly grated coconut
- 250 gm Jaggery
- 1tbsp Black pepper powder
- To taste Salt
- 1 tbsp cardamom powder
Method:
- Heat a pan, add coconut, then add jaggery. Let the coconut and jaggery mixture cook for some time. Then add cardamom and pepper powder and mix well.
- When the mixture becomes dry, set it aside to completely cool off for further use.
- Heat a pan add 2 1/2 cup water, add salt add rice flour mix it well, and make a soft dough.
- Let the dough cool a little bit, so that you can work on it.
- While the mixture is still warm, apply some water to your hands and knead it until it is soft about 5-7 minutes. The dough should not look patchy or crumble. You will need to add 2-3 tablespoons of warm water to get the perfect smooth dough.
- Then take the small dough ball and make it flat with your hand to make a pocket. And the filling in the pocket and close all the ends of the dough to give it a round shape.
- After all the pithas are made, steam them in a steamer and the Manda pitha is ready to serve.