Winter is the season of comfort, good food, and warmth. It’s that time of the year when one wants to snuggle up by the fireside with a cup of hot coffee or tea in hand. The season offers a vast variety of green vegetables and juicy fruits.
Enduri Pitha: Enduri pitha is a dish which welcomes winter. It is made with fragrant and antioxidant-rich turmeric leaves on Prathamastami, celebrating the family’s firstborn child. According to the making process, it is also called Haldi Patra Pitha.
Khira Gaintha: Khira Gaintha is a unique and highly elevating sweet dish of Odisha. Rice balls are cooked in thickened milk laced with nuts, cardamom, sugar, and coconut. Khira Gaintha is a special dish in our mummy’s kitchen on the occasion of ‘Bakula Amabasya’.
Ghanto Tarkari: You must have tried mixed vegetable curry in your home, but in Odisha, it is made in a unique style. In this classic Ghanto tarkari, you will find some classic veggies like raw banana, khada saga, elephant yam (Mati Alu), white pumpkin, etc which are essential ingredients of an authentic Odia curry.
Kanji A warm, nourishing soup made with tart, umami-rich torani—rice water fermented in clay pots—and winter vegetables like radish, hyacinth beans, ash gourd, tomatoes etc, tempered with lots of garlic, panch phutana or mustard seeds, chilies and curry leaves, Kanji is a winter favourite in Odisha.
Dhanu Muan: Dhanu Muan is a sweet and tasty Odia snack which is closely linked to Dhanu Sankranti. It is a crunchy ball made with a mix of ghee, khai (puffed rice), jaggery, toasted coconut, spices like cardamom and black paper. It is made in different shapes like square, round and heart.
Sijha Manda: Hot Sijha Manda is another sweet treat with a lot of ritualistic significance during Manabasa Gurubara (Thursday) and is offered to goddess Laxmi. It is prepared using rice dough, stuffed with a mix of coconut, jaggery, cardamom etc. After that, it is steamed and turned into stuffed rice balls. This delicious sweet dish is perfect food for an evening snack.