Odia Byanjana

By Debasish Patanaik

Aleph Book Company
Rs 1999/-

‘One of the most understated yet richly layered culinary traditions’, is how this large tome by hotelier Deboo (Debasish) Patanaik describes the cuisine it is centred upon. There is no flamboyance around this food where the natural flavour of its ingredients is enhanced in its cooking. It holds great significance in the culture of Odisha as it is linked to religious practices and traditions, to the seasons that come and go.

It’s a larger-than-life recipe book with notes on each one, recipes contributed by Odia food experts, and images that depict the dish well, though not the best in clarity. Pictures of the ingredients are used as cutouts when illustrations would have added greater visual appeal, we opine. But the meat of the matter is the recipe and there are several that the author has selected and shared with the reader to experiment with and recreate Odia magic at home.

The Habisa Dalma is a must-try, the Pumpkin Flower Bhajaas, too. The Santula is a staple with raw papaya, plantains and eggplants that is a lovely pot meal, best eaten with rice. Rohu is done beautifully in a mustard gravy called Maachha Besara and mutton with soft chunks of potato, in the Maansa Aloo Jhola. Snacks and desserts complete Odia Byanjana, with delicacies like the Chhenaa Poda and the Kheeri.

About the author: A hotelier and entrepreneur, he founded the iconic Dalma chain of restaurants in Odisha. Deboo, as he is fondly known, has helped foster several start-ups and nurture Odisha’s ecosystem, authoring another book called BBI: Bhubaneshwar Completes Seventy-Five Years.

Santula

Ingredients
• 250 g potatoes 
• 100 g raw papaya 
• 3 eggplants
• 1 plantain
• 10 g turmeric powder
• 10 g ginger
• 5 g coriander powder
• 30 ml mustard oil 
• 50 g onions
• 2 cloves garlic 
• 5 g mustard seeds
• 3 g hing 
• 2 dried red chillies
• 2 green chillies
• sea salt as per taste

Method
In a kadhai, combine the chopped potatoes, raw papaya, halved eggplants, plantain, and a little water.
Add turmeric powder, salt and ginger, and cook until the vegetables are soft.
In a pan, sauté the sliced onions, dried red chillies and mustard seeds.
Add chopped garlic, turmeric powder, coriander powder, hing, salt and water to the pan. Transfer
the boiled vegetables from the kadhai to the pan.
Garnish with coriander leaves and whole green chillies.
Simmer for 5-7 minutes and serve.