Closing with Coffee

AND with that last coffee on the curb side we said farewells. Farewell Odisha!

Next day for morning flight Sai dropped me at the airport. Those 12 days in Odisha were packed with so many memories. It has taken 2 month for me to post it all. Hope you enjoyed watching and reading the experience through my eyes. Do let me know what you think?

The Gudiyas of Pahala

Pahala that famous destination for Chenna poda and Rasgulla. Recently it received a GI tag. Pahala lies on the highway connecting Bhubaneswar to Cuttack. On our way back from Cuttack we stopped here to enjoy some Chenna poda & steaming hot Rasagulla! 

It is an amazing experience to watch the making of the Rasagulla there. A whole long line of sweet shops doing the same thing and therefore excelling at it. 

Camera 📸 and banter @mycookingcanvas

A Grand Feast at Dalma

On my last day in Bhubaneswar we were looking for a light meal in a South Indian place. I had experienced everything I thought and as we walked by we spotted a big board saying DALMA. Probably this is the only restaurant that I had heard of a lot but had not tried it out. So we marched right up to the dining hall on the first floor. Ordered a veg thali and a Khoinga mach besaro and mutton. While everything was delicious the star ⭐️ of the meal was the Bael ki chutney. A celebration of sorts of having Chef Sai Priya with me. This was a grand meal beyond my expectations!

P.S: Before well meaning friends throw batons at me let me declare that we shared the meal.

Cuttack Fame Dahi Bara Aloo Dum

Cuttack and it’s Dahi bara aloo dum. Odia people eat it through the day all day. It is one dish ubiquitously found across the cities and country side. It is a chat made up of dahi bara or a moong and udid dal vada that’s deep fried and soaked in butter milk then topped with aloo dum and ghoogni. Sprinkled with raw onions fine chopped and sev. I went to Cuttack and tasted it I can claim. 😉😃

Breakfast under ₹50

Scenes from our drive thru rural Odisha are so entertaining. The vegetables stall neatly organised and its proud owner. The produce tell tale the season. It was just after Sankrant and this pile of Tender chana greens was so tempting I would have bought them spontaneously lest we were on the road. I did buy bor on one such non descript place. Here was a pile with semi ripe and ripe ones in the bag. The ripe gooey ones not for nothing are called शेंबडी बोरं 😆😆 in Marathi. Those Odissi dancers with whom we wanted pictures. 

The tiny shop frying puris tempted us. After a quick inspection we decided to eat inside where there were less than 3 tables. Hot puris and aloo sabji, aloo chop, Rasagulla for me and idli sambar for Sai. All for a princely sum of ₹50 add to that chai! 

Yes South Indian food is very common in Odisha telling us that food and cultural influences are fluid and cannot be boxed. This overflow from Andhra as Odisha shares borders.

Caught the train passing by the level crossing.

Canoes beckoning to explore Mangala Jodi. Colorful Moore hens everywhere and Kaash phool swaying luxuriously in the breeze. 

So much of Odisha to fill in my tiny heart…

Art can’t fill your stomachs!

Learnt this the hard way. When I booked this stay at Pipul Odi Museum Resort at Barkul, Odisha for 25 Jan 2024. I was blown away by the pictures. Least expected that we would be treated so shabby at the resort. 

I am ok with simple food at a restaurant but if they are lazy and care a hoot about their customers they need to be exposed. 

On Swachchanda is my complete review of Pipul Odi museum resort in Chilika that was terrible experience. Saved only by my tough girl Sai Priya!

We had reached by evening and ordered tea and veg pakodas in the room. So we thought ok we could have dinner there.

The worst of all experiences was when we went for dinner to their restaurant and ordered tava fried fish and schezwan fried rice. The rice was nothing schezwan and had corn n peas in it. Which means a pulao was showered with chili flakes and brought to us. The fried fish was deep fried, a prepped fish for curry. 

Sai @mycookingcanvas the tough girl she is summoned the manager made him taste the food and made him take it back. She ordered him to serve staff meal of dal rice to us along with fish besaro. 

The hotel was so shameless they billed for it! We paid but we also want everyone to know our terrible experience!!!

😂😂😂😂😂

Tempted by Meetha at KaliJai

On this visit to KaliJai mandir on the island of the same name. We talked to the poojari and he narrated the Sthan mahatmya to us. Read about the fascinating legend on Swachchanda. It’s in the middle of Bharat’s biggest lagoon between the shores of Barkul and Parikuda. Amazing location as an island should be. 

 

Yet it’s the journey that made it enjoyable. There isn’t much to see except this mandir. There are a few shops that sell sweets and eatables. We enjoyed some fresh jhal mudi scrambled up in front of us. 

I was tempted by the simplicity of the rustic sweets and respect for that sweet maker. There were coconut ladoos, colorful khaja, khasta gaja etc. Sai bought me some khasta gaja. Those are the brown ones. 

Tell me what sweet makers are called in Odia? Not halwai for sure! 

The answer to that is Khadik / Moira / Modak.

Later after returning to Barkul jetty we had a simple meal of prawn curry and rice with some mixed vegetables at the OTDC restaurant.

Finding Donut in Swosti Chilika

📸 @mycookingcanvas 

I simply love breakfast buffets during travel. Eat to your stomach’s fill and go explore the world without a worry. You are fueled for the day. 

While I am aware that all bakes and other desserts are ordered from out in hotels, I am sometimes surprised at the well made items. Not all but some just are pleasant surprises especially if it’s in a remote place like Swosti Chilika. Look at my breakfast plate. Who eats bhajji for breakfast? 😜 Hotels make you fall into scandalous choices. But then buffets also serve Pao bhaaji and without fail mention that Mumbai ownership 😆😆 but I digress. 

The glazed donut on my plate was a real donut. Real deep fried and not baked. I have some pet peeves you know! 

Similarly in a stay in Dharwad in my roadtrip last year I found a superb croissant.

In a buffet wean out the not so interesting and eat the best stuff. Yet when it comes to bakes that is the toughest unless you have been a baker or maker of donuts in this special case 🤩🥳

Blue Crabs and Feasting at Swosti Chilika

 

 

Do I need to tell you what happened in Swosti Chilika?! 🙀Are the pictures not enough! 😻😽but I must tell you. I am a drama queen sometimes. We were starved after a long drive so as soon as we checked in we hurried to the restaurant. Already expecting fresh fish there. We were on Bharat’s biggest lagoon. Chilika lake is famous for its blue crabs, mullets, prawns and pearl spot. Kankda, khoinga, chingdi and kundal in Odia. We ate all of these in this one meal. There was chicken and mutton too. I got compliments from my co-diner @mycookingcanvas for cleaning out the crab meat like a pro. It took 2 hrs at the table. A non vegetarians freak indulgence totally! 🫠🤯🤘🏽🤘🏽

A Superlative Chenna Poda

A lot had happened a day ago. Sai the saviour came to Puri with a new cab and driver. She was anyways going to join me for the last leg of my journey. Anyways she was constantly guiding me through the solos. Yet I was the happiest to have her with me on that day. I had eaten breakfast but Sai needed her fill so we stopped at this little village stall for a bite on the way to Chilika lake.

The Chenna poda looked really good she said and insisted that I try. My first taste of it was on Puri beach which was more dense. This was way better though slightly more sweeter as is in rural areas. In her element Sai was advising the seller to use ghee for long shelf life and improved taste since he had used oil for it. 

Chhenapoda was invented by Sudarsan Sahu post 1947 after he set up a hotel in the village of Dashapalla and began experimenting with left over cottage cheese. Chhenapoda Dibasa is celebrated as 11 April 2022, the birth anniversary of Sudarsan Sahoo.

That’s our own cheesecake there for you. Baked on wood fire and superlative taste imparted by wood as well as the Sal leaves layered in the baking patela. It is mildly sweet caramelised on the outside and a very sophisticated taste.

Tandoori fish at Lotus Eco Resort

KHAEENGA or Mullet is the most abundant fish in Odisha waters. I enjoyed it several times. In Besaro, fried and tandoori too. After visit to the Sun temple in Konark I was guided by Sai @mycookingcanvas to go to Lotus Eco resort for lunch and promised a stunning view with it. How could I not fall for it?! Let me tell you this story.

I reached this place in the late morning. The kitchen was still prepping after an event last day. I never hesitate to make a request at restaurants. My experience is they never say no unless the request is outlandish. The service boy refused saying we are not yet ready. I called for the manager. Told him I have been recoed this restaurant for its fish. He very graciously offered me a tandoori mullet with salad. He told me after which I could roam around the resort and meanwhile thali would be made ready. I told him that just the tandoori of a whole KHAEENGA pronunced as “Khoinga” would make me stuffed to the gills and that fitted my nutrition plan too. A lime soda would be fantastic to go with it. Lo behold! I had that on my table in 15 mins. 

 

The fish was freshest and fantastic. The location and view were priceless! Coming up on Swachchanda my day trip to Konark. 

P.S: Since I was on the edge of the sea and it had rained in the morning too many flies wanted their share of my fish. 🤣🤣

Chenna Meetha & Shingada on the Puri Beach

The delights of Puri beach! Rasgulla, Madan Mohan, Chenna poda and Shingada the stuff that I gorged on. You will find Kavadis carrying aluminium tapelas and roaming on the beach. Take my word, stop them and let them open a delicious experience to you for just 70₹ if you decide to buy 4-5 varieties. 5 shingada 20₹, Rasagulla 10₹, Madan Mohan ₹10, Chenna poda 30₹. This was recoed by my lovely friend Sai @mycookingcanvas and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these treats on the beach. These sellers work on commission for local sweet makers. The cleanliness is noteworthy, tongs are used to serve. The milk quality in Jagannath Puri is extremely good. I must mention that I love the Odia Rasagulla more than the Bengali one. All the Chenna meetha quality and taste is way above anywhere else. Even though I was introduced to a whole range of Chenna sweets by Bengal! 

Shingada are small sized samosas with cubed potato filling unlike Punjabi samosas. These are fried in mustard oil. Flaky and mildly spiced. 

After the beach treats I would have tea in terracotta glasses called bhaar. I am told this is a new trend here but loved it.

Tempted to try these?

On two evenings in Puri I gave dinner a miss after my beach shenanigans.

Then while returning to the hotel I picked Jhal mudi on both these days. Actually on the second day I took a double pack 😁  

Read my post Anchored in Jagannath Puri on Swachchanda

Honey Bee Cafe

I reached the cafe before it opened for service. This quaint little bungalow looked beautiful and as I stood there in the backyard I felt a droplet run down my spine. I touched my back and looked up at the sky. It was dusk and a thunderstorm was building up. I climbed up the steps hurriedly that took me to the kitchen. Was told to look around the place and settle down. Absolutely loved how each room had a different yet relaxed vibe. On the terrace the rain pitter pattered making my heart yearn. The yellow mellow lights would have made young hearts flutter. After a good look around I came down and settled near the menu on display. Ordered a thin crust 3 mushroom pizza or was it 3 cheese? A cappuccino. Picked up 2 cream puffs one for me and one for the driver. Sai recommended the carrot cake which had a fantastic citrusy twist. Moist and delicious. I wouldn’t have imagined this in Jagannath Puri. A wonderful relaxing evening away from the crowds in this little bungalow. That was exactly a month ago same date!

Read about my experiences in Jagannath Puri and Odisha on Swachchanda.