Local Dishes

28 phrases · Odia with romanization, English and audio

  1. ପଖାଳ

    pakhāḷa

    Pakhala (rice steeped in water)

    Usage

    Cooked rice with water added — the most everyday food in Odisha. It is eaten in hot weather to cool the body and prevent dehydration. Usually a midday or afternoon meal, served with fried sides, fish or greens. The liquid itself is called torani

  2. ଡାଲମା

    ḍālamā

    Dalma (lentils simmered with vegetables)

    Usage

    Lentils boiled together with vegetables and tempered with cumin, phutana spice mix, bhrusanga leaf, tomato, onion, garlic and ginger — the signature Odia dish. It comes with almost every thali, and since it has no meat or fish it is the safest first order for a vegetarian

  3. ସନ୍ତୁଳା

    santuḷā

    Santula (lightly cooked mixed vegetables)

    Usage

    An Odisha vegetable dish of several kinds of vegetable cooked together. No meat or fish in it

  4. ମାଛ ବେସର

    māchha besara

    Macha besara (fish in mustard paste)

    Usage

    Fish cooked in besara, a paste ground from mustard seed, cumin, fennel and coconut. Thicker than the soupy jhola style; served with rice at lunch or dinner

  5. ଘୁଗୁନି

    ghuguni

    Ghuguni (yellow pea and potato curry)

    Usage

    Peas and potato stewed together, eaten on its own or ladled over bara, singada, puri or puffed rice. It is an East Indian dish known in Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar

  6. ଦହିବରା-ଆଳୁଦମ

    dahibarā-āḷudama

    Dahibara aludama (curd-soaked lentil fritters with potato curry)

    Usage

    Lentil fritters soaked in curd, topped with potato curry and ghuguni — a breakfast and snack dish. The city of Cuttack is famous for it. It uses uncooked curd, so pick a busy stall

  7. ଖେଚେଡ଼ି

    khecheṛi

    Khechedi (rice cooked with lentils)

    Usage

    Rice and lentils cooked together. Found across India, but the Odisha version is drier and uses sugar, so it does not taste like the dish of the same name elsewhere. It is also one of the temple offerings at Puri

  8. ଆମ୍ବିଳ

    āmbiḷa

    Ambila (sweet-and-sour vegetable stew)

    Usage

    A sweet-sour vegetable preparation. It is among Puri's known dishes and has two other names — letha in western Odisha, shakara at the Jagannath temple. It also appears in the Nuakhai festival menu of western Odisha

  9. ଖଟା

    khaṭā

    Khata (the sour side dish)

    Usage

    The umbrella name for the sour side made from tomato, mango, okra, starfruit and the like. It arrives as a small portion at the edge of a thali — and, as the name says, it is sour rather than sweet

  10. ଚକୁଳି ପିଠା

    chakuḷi piṭhā

    Chakuli pitha (rice-and-lentil pancake)

    Usage

    A thick batter of rice flour and urad lentils cooked on a tawa griddle. Common at breakfast

  11. ଆରିସା ପିଠା

    ārisā piṭhā

    Arisa pitha (fried rice-flour and jaggery cake)

    Usage

    A pitha of rice flour with jaggery or sugar, made at home for every festival and offered at the Jagannath temple in Puri. Note the spelling begins ଆ, not ଅ

  12. ଏଣ୍ଡୁରି ପିଠା

    eṇḍuri piṭhā

    Enduri pitha (rice cake steamed in a leaf)

    Usage

    A thick rice-and-urad batter cooked in steam; the traditional method wraps it in a leaf. Households make it for Prathamastami, so outside that season you will not find it in shops

  13. କାକରା ପିଠା

    kākarā piṭhā

    Kakara pitha (fried jaggery-and-coconut cake)

    Usage

    Made from refined wheat flour, jaggery and coconut. A festival standard; the filled version is called pura kakara

  14. ପୋଡ଼ ପିଠା

    poṛa piṭhā

    Poda pitha (slow-baked rice cake)

    Usage

    Rice-flour and jaggery batter baked long and slow in a heavy pan until the crust blackens. Households make it at the Raja festival; it is also offered at the Jagannath temple

  15. ମଣ୍ଡା

    maṇḍā

    Manda (steamed dumpling with coconut filling)

    Usage

    Rice-flour dough wrapped around jaggery and coconut and steamed. Made for Manabasa Thursdays, Kumar Purnima, Nuakhai and other festivals; also called manda pitha

  16. ଚିତଉ

    chitau

    Chitau (thin steamed rice cake)

    Usage

    A rice cake made for Chitalagi Amabasya in the month of Shravana; northern Odisha keeps the same day as Gendeikata Osha. A calendar food, not something on sale year-round

  17. ମହାପ୍ରସାଦ

    mahāprasāda

    Mahaprasad (the Jagannath temple food offering)

    Usage

    The meal offered to the deities at the Jagannath temple in Puri and then shared with pilgrims — rice, lentils, vegetables and greens cooked only in earthen pots over firewood. Also called abadha. ⚠ Non-Hindus are not admitted into the temple, so you cannot buy it at Ananda Bazar inside the compound; shops outside sell it under the same name

  18. ଚିଙ୍ଗୁଡ଼ି ଝୋଳ

    chiṅguṛi jhoḷa

    Chingudi jhola (prawn curry)

    Usage

    A spiced, brothy prawn curry. It is eaten mainly along the coast and rivers — easiest to order around Puri and Chilika Lake

  19. ମୁଢ଼ି ମାଂସ

    muṛhi māṃsa

    Mudhi mansa (puffed rice with mutton curry)

    Usage

    Puffed rice eaten with a meat curry. It is a traditional dish of Mayurbhanj district, with the town of Baripada known for it; it is not common in eateries elsewhere in the state

  20. ମୁଢ଼ି

    muṛhi

    Mudhi (puffed rice)

    Usage

    Rice roasted until it puffs; also called bhuja, a staple of Odisha. Eaten plain as a snack, or with ghuguni or a meat curry poured over it

  21. ଶୁଖୁଆ

    śukhuā

    Sukhua (dried fish)

    Usage

    Salted and sun-dried fish, cheaper than fresh and eaten widely across the state. ⚠ Some traders use formaldehyde in the drying. The smell and taste are very strong — start small

  22. ପୋଟଳ ରସା

    poṭaḷa rasā

    Potala rasa (pointed gourd in coconut milk)

    Usage

    Pointed gourd simmered in coconut milk, a vegetarian side. A version with potato added, alu-potala rasa, is also common

  23. ବଡ଼ି

    baṛi

    Badi (sun-dried lentil dumpling)

    Usage

    Ground urad lentils mixed with spices and sun-dried. They are fried and dropped into curries or crushed and eaten as they are; you will find them inside besara, saga, khata and santula

  24. ଆଳୁ ଭର୍ତ୍ତା

    āḷu bharttā

    Alu bharta (mashed spiced potato)

    Usage

    Boiled potato mashed with spices — a plain, cheap dish. It is made across Odisha, Bengal and much of Pakistan. Easy to ask for with less chilli

  25. ସିଙ୍ଗଡ଼ା

    siṅgaṛā

    Singada (samosa)

    Usage

    In Odisha the samosa is called singada (samosa is understood too). A fried triangular pastry; the filling is spiced potato, onion and nuts, sometimes with minced meat; served with chutney or ghuguni

  26. ଶାଗ

    śāga

    Saga (cooked leafy greens)

    Usage

    The general name for a leafy-green side, fried or stewed and eaten with rice; it is also part of the Jagannath temple mahaprasad. Menus usually name the leaf in front of it, as "X saga"

  27. ପିଠା

    piṭhā

    Pitha (the family of rice- and wheat-flour cakes)

    Usage

    The umbrella word for cakes made from rice, wheat or mung flour — a shop sign may carry only this word. Chakuli, arisa, enduri, kakara, poda and manda all belong to this family

  28. ଦହି ବାଇଗଣ

    dahi bāigaṇa

    Dahi baigana (fried aubergine in curd)

    Usage

    Fried aubergine folded into curd — a cool vegetarian side that offsets a hot meal. It uses uncooked curd, so judge the stall before ordering

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