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 🤩🥳