Lunch at Nimantran, OTDC

A morning climbing Dhauli had made me hungry already. I couldn’t wait to have lunch however I had returned to Bhubaneswar city by late morning itself. That’s the beauty of Bhubaneswar. There is the old world and the new all in close access. The Bhubaneswar modern city itself is very well planned clean, green and beautiful. So I decided to explore the city center a bit. Janpath is great to walk around. I bought shoes as planned for walking and trekking in my travels around Odisha. Then as we were passing by saw Ram Mandir so took darshan. Finally reaching the restaurant just as it opened its doors for the day. 

I took a seat by the large glass wall that gives an unobstructed view of the Janpath. Settled into my chair while the stewardess walked over. She pointed me to the menu for the day and guided me to choose the dishes. I wanted it to be lavish as it was authentic Odia I was told by Sai. 

They don’t serve a thali so every thing had to be ordered A la carte. For a single person that would be a lot! Yet I went all out and ordered a dalma, santula, khata and rice. The lady asked me if my fish should be made in masala style or mustard paste gravy? I jumped up for mustard paste gravy ofcourse. Yes I am adventurous in travel as well as food 😃 Here the fish was Soradi and the style is called besaro. 

I rubbed my hands in glee and ordered sweet lime soda until the wait. As the food was placed in front of me, I felt like a Queen 👸🏾

The food was delicious to say the least. Traditional veggies like pumpkin, raw banana and suran made the santula delectable. The dalma was wholesome with pumpkin and brinjal a medley of veggies in pulses. A huge bowl of rice. I took 1/3 of it. Later I packed all the leftovers and ate for dinner too. 

The khata was the star of the meal. Tomato and whole dates stewed to perfection. Sweet and sour absolutely danced on my palate. 

AND to end this wonderful experience just like an elevated music concert ends with a Bhairavi I ended this Odia meal with Chenna jhili. It is soft balls of chenna creamy, yet spongy soft. More delicate than a gulabjamoon even if it may look deceptively similar. Yet it has its own sorcery on your mind. A warm bite of this deep fried chenna in elaichi spiced sugar syrup is ecstasy!