Savory Seafood

Savory Seafood

Oriya cuisine is a cross between that of Bengal and cuisines of the deeper south. Like their Bengali neighbors, Orissans use mustard oil and mustard seeds in their cooking, but they also employ coconut, chillies, tamarind and curry leaves. Another Bengali touch: Orissans love bony hilsa and bekti. These fish are cooked up in watery gravy—macher jhol—and served steaming hot with rice. The semi-fresh water prawns found at Chilka Lake are enormous and you can sample them on the spot, fried hot and spicy in mustard oil on the beach. While seafood lovers will enjoy savoring all the aquatic treats, there is plenty of interesting vegetarian Oriya food to be sampled, too. Don't miss tasting yogurt eggplant or lemon rice and bhindi (okra) entrées.