Rasagola

Controversy about Rasagola is now almost two and half years old after it started for the 1st time when Odisha twitter users started trending #RasagolaDibasa on 30th July 2015, on the tithi of #NiladriBije ritual after #RathaJatra in Puri Odisha.

After the twitter trend, Odisha Govt entered to it and made some committies to search the proofs if Rasagola originated in Odisha. Around 2016, the researchers found the mention of "Rasagola" in the 15th century Odia text "Dandi Ramayana" written by Balaram Das.

But the time passed, Bengal Govt prepared the documents for Banglar Rasogolla and in November 2017 got the GI tag for their product.
On the other side, Odisha Govt didnt apply at all for Odisha Rasagola. Not sure what was the reason. They are planning to apply now.

Though Bengal has got the GI tag for Banglar Rasogolla, not the Rasagola/Rasogolla/Rasgulla of the world as a whole, but many people in themainstream media in India and in US published that Bengal won Rasogolla War against Odisha and got the GI for Rasogolla and Odisha's claim was rejected.
Some articles corrected the fake news and published new articles but many media till date continue with the blasphemy. In 2016, the media in Odisha published the screenshots of the particular page of "Dandi Ramayana" which mentions "Rasagola". The mainstream media must be knowing this very well. But when they write their articles, either they create fake news or they intentionally hide the text of Dandi Ramayana. Some guys just divert it by giving a new angle that Portuguse might have brought it with them. But Dandi Ramayana was written much before Portuguese.

Those media who dont know about the Dandi Ramayana because it is written in Odia, please have a look here.
https://archive.org/stream/typicalselection01mazuuoft#page/n119/mode/2up

See how many times, the word "Chhena(Cheese)" is mentioned.
1) Dudha Chhena - Milk Cheese
2) Chhena Puri - Cheese Puri
3) Chhena Ladoo - Cheese Ladoo
4) Chhena Manda - Cheese Manda
5) Chhena Tarada - Cheese Tarada

So "Chhena(Cheese)" was in use in Odisha much before Portuguese, isn't it?

What about "Rasagola" then?
It is also clearly mentioned as "Rasagola" and Rasagola is prepared from Cheese.

Now another dimension given by some other people. Since Krishna's food habits does not include Chhena(Cheese), then for Jagannatha also, same concept applicable.
It clearly states that those persons have no idea about Jagannatha.
Vaishnavism entered Jagannatha temple only during the time of Ramanuj. Later Chaitanya propagated Jagannatha as Krisha. So whatever other sects got linked to Jagannatha , becomes invalid??? Tribal, Shakta, Saiba, Jaina and Boudha were linked to Jagannatha much before before Ramanuj or Chaitanya came to Puri Odisha. 
If only Krishna's reference is taken and told that usage of cheese was not there in Odisha before Portuguese, then it is a clear blasphemy. 
We have the 15th Century text "Dandi Ramayana" which mentions "Rasagola".

Now, someone asks a counter question, why Rasagola is not cooked inside Jagannatha temple? And the answer is "We are now mainstream Hindus" and some mainstream rules and thoughts also entered Odisha. But still, a ritual "Niladri Bije" happens yearly once and Jagannatha gifts Rasagola to Lakshmi. 

For unnecesary argument or blasphemy, we also have the answer. If someone takes the example of Krishna, then we give the example of Rama in Dandi Ramayana.
Krishna didn't take Cheese but Rama had Cheese and Rasagola in Odisha and so mentioned by Balaram Das in 15th century text Dandi Ramayana. Futher countering the blasphemy of some media, Rama is from Tretaya juga/yuga & Krishna is from Dwapara juga/yuga and you know which juga/yuga is earlier. 😉

Coming out of the blasphemy, we have the written proof about "Rasagola" in Dandi Ramayana which is a valid proof. While writing any article, the mainstream media should mention this. If they know and not writing, then it a clear-cut case of intentional information hiding.

Thanks
Ashish Kumar Nayak

Story behind Ghanta, Chhincheda, MudhiGhanta food recipes and Usage of potato in nonveg curries

GhAnTa Tarakari (ଘାଣ୍ଟ ତରକାରୀ, घाण्ट तरकारी)":

       The 8th day of Krushna pakhya of Aaswina month is called as “Mula astami”, Odias celebrate as Dwutibaahaan osha or Dwutia osha . This festival is mainly done by women used for their sons betterment and to get good sons. The god of this Osha is “Dwutibahan”. On this day, the vegetables are kept on a kulaa(pot like thing, made of bamboo pieces) and give to God as bhoga (naivedya). The reason behind this is that some of the vegetables are available in this season.

On the next day, the same vegetables are cooked together to prepare a dish called as "GhAnTa Tarakari (ଘାଣ୍ଟ ତରକାରୀ, घाण्ट तरकारी)". 

You can refer the below blog to know more aboubt the recipe.

http://eodisha.org/dutia-osha-ghanta-tarakari-typical-odia-mix-curry-without-onion-garlic/

ChhincheDA (ଛିଞ୍ଚେଡ଼ା, छिन्चेड़ा):

During marriages receptions, after the good pieces of fish were served to the people, the head pieces were left. 

An idea struck to people's mind. And they thought of making small pieces of the head pieces, mixing with vegetables and prepare a new dish. And the new dish got its name as "ChhincheDA (ଛିଞ୍ଚେଡ଼ା, छिन्चेड़ा)". In Odia "Chhinchiba (ଛିଞ୍ଚିବା, छिन्चिबा)" means "to sprinkle". But here, it was meant for mixing.

MudhiGhAnTa (ମୁଢିଘାଣ୍ଟ, मुढ़िघाण्ट):

Some people thought of not to mix all vegetables and just to mix potato, buta dali(chana dal), head pieces of fish and prepare a dish. The dish got its name as "MudhiGhAnTa (ମୁଢିଘାଣ୍ଟ, मुढ़िघाण्ट)".

But in Odia "Mudhi" means "puffed rice". So, though this dish name starts with Mudhi, it should not be confused with puffed rice. In Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, people eat Mudhi(puffed rice) with nonveg curry. So the dish MudhiGhAnTa might have got its name there. Or otherwise, Munda(ମୁଣ୍ତ, मुण्ड) means "Head" and since the fish head is mixed it might have got the name MundaGhanta & then gradually change to MudhiGhanta.

Usage of potato in nonveg curries:

In old days, when the people who were not able to afford huge quantity of nonveg food like kings, they had to satisfy themselves with the limited amount. 

After Potato was introduced to India during Portugese and British time, people once tried mixing potato with nonveg curry and it tasted good as potato absorbed the flavour of nonveg, not the other way round. And it also increased the quantity of the nonveg dish.

Gradually it became a food habit and people started using potato in fish, chicken, mutton, prawn curry in regular basis.

Cheers

Ashish

Food Stalls - 10th Toshali crafts Mela - Bhubaneswar

Friends, I just thought of sharing some pics taken at the food stalls during 10th Toshali crafts Mela 2015.
Here it is.

                                                                                                                                        

This photoblog was just to tell our Odisha Tourism department to post the pics of stalls and food items when tweeting about food festival, nothing else!

Thanks

Ashish

#PakhalaDibasa on a Marathi daily newspaper

Pakhala is a food of Odisha. It is prepared by soaking rice in water and curd can also be added to it. #PakhalaDibasa is celebrated o 20th March.

If you think, #PakhalaDibasa as a building, then the foundation stone was placed in Orkut, the building was constructed during Facebook times and the finishing touch was given in twitter on 20-Mar-2015 through a twitter-trend.

Again after the twitter trend on 20-Mar-2016, the news about #PakhalaDibasa was published in a Marathi daily “Sakal” on that day.

#PakhalaDibasa news on a Marathi daily.
P.C. @BBSRBuzz 

I have just typed it by referring the screenshot. There might be many mistakes. :) उष्णतेच्या दाहावर ‘पखाळा’ चा उतारा. होळी आळी आहे, त्यामुळे उष्णतेजी तीव्रता जाणवत आहे. उन्हापासून करण्यासाठी टोप्या, कुलर यांचा वापर सुरु झाला. उष्णतेजा दाह कमी यासाठी भात खाल्ला जातो, हे तेकांना माहित नसेल. ओडिशात घरी पखाला हा भाताचा प्रकार उन्हाळ्यात करण्याची प्रथा आहे. उन्हाळा आळा कि दैनंदिनीत होतो. शाळा, महाविद्यालये, बेळ सकाळी होते. आहारातही बदळ केळा जातो. ४२ अंश सेलसिअस किंवा त्यापेख्या जास्त तापमान असते. उष्णतेजा होऊ नये यासाठी मसालेदार, तिखट पदार्थ भोजनातून गायब होतात. त्याजागी पाचायळा हलका असा पखाळ भात येतो. भारतात ओदिशा, झारखंड काही भांगात; तसेच नेपाल, बांगलादेश व म्यानमार आदी देशामध्येही उन्हाळ्याच पखाळ हमाख्यास बनविला जातो. ओडीशात तर ‘पखाळ’ चे ब्रेडींग सुरु झाले आहे. २० मार्च रोजी आंतराष्ट्रीय ‘पखाळ दिवस’ साजरा केला जातो. ओडीशतिल या परंपरेचे जतन व्हावे व जगभरात याला ओळख मिळाबी हा हेतू यामागे आहे. या दिवसी हॉटेल मधीळ मेनू कार्डावर पखाळ प्रामुख्याने दिसतो. तसेच त्यापासून बनबिलेले वेगवेगळे पदार्थही चाखायला मिळतात. त्याच दिवसी जागतिक हास्य दिन असतो. पखाळ खाल्ल्याने उष्णतेजा जाणवत नसल्याने ओडीशातिल नाकारिक आनंदी राहतात. असे सांगितले जाते. पखाळ साठी लाल किंवा पांढरा तांदळाचा वापर केला जातो. ओडीशातिळ ग्रामीण भागात लाल तांदळापासून पखाळ शिजविला जातो. सळिसह असलेला लाल भात हा पांढन्या भातापेख्या जास्त आरोम्यादायी व चवीष्टो असतो. जगन्नाथपुरीच्या मंदिरात “दही पखाळ” तयार करण्याची प्रथा दहाव्या शतकापासून आहे. शेतात काम करण्यास ताकद मिळविण्यासाठी शेतकरी, शेतमजुरांच्या जेवणात हा भात आवर्जून असतो. विवाह सोहळ्यातही याला धर्मिक महत्व आहे. वधूच्या पाठवणीपुर्बि वराला ‘दही पखाळ’…

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅନୁବାଦ (ଆକ୍ଷରିକ ନୁହେଁ):

ଗ୍ରୀଷ୍ମଦିନ ଆସିଲେ ପଖାଳ ଭଲ ଲାଗେ। ହୋଲି ପରେ ପରେ ଖରାର ତୀବ୍ରତା ଅଧିକ ହୁଏ। ଏଥିରୁ ବଞ୍ଚିବା ପାଇଁ ଟୋପି, କୁଲର ଇତ୍ୟାଦି ବ୍ୟବହାର କରାଯାଏ। ଖରା ଦାଉରୁ ରକ୍ଷା ପାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଭାତ ଖିଆଯାଏ। ଖରାଦିନେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଘରେ ଘରେ ପଖାଳ ଭାତ ଖାଇବାର ପ୍ରଥା ଅଛି। ଗ୍ରୀଷ୍ମଦିନ ଆସିଲେ, ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ, ମହାବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ ସବୁ ସକାଳ ବେଳା ହୁଏ। ୪୨ ଡିଗ୍ରୀ କି ତା’ଠାରୁ ଅଧିକ ତାପମାତ୍ରା ରୁହେ। ମସଲାଯୁକ୍ତ କି ଅତି ଗରମ ଖାଦ୍ୟ ଖରାଦିନେ ଖାଇବା ଠିକ ନୁହେଁ। ପଖାଳ ଭଳି ହାଲୁକା ଖାଦ୍ୟ ଭଲ। ଭାରତରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶା, ଝାରଖଣ୍ତ ଓ ନେପାଳ, ବଙ୍ଗଳାଦେଶ, ମ୍ୟାନମାର ଆଦି ଦେଶରେ ବି ପଖାଳ ଖିଆଯାଏ। କିନ୍ତୁ ଓଡ଼ିଶା “ପଖାଳ”ର ବ୍ରାଣ୍ତିଙ୍ଗ କରିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିଦେଇଛି। ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ପଖାଳ ଦିବସ ୨୦ ମାର୍ଚ୍ଚ ରେ ପାଳନ ହେଉଛି। ଓଡ଼ିଶା ତା’ର ପରମ୍ପରା କୁ ବଜାୟ ରଖିଛି ଆଉ ସାରା ବିଶ୍ୱକୁ ଏ ଜିନିଷର ପରିଚୟ ଦେଉଛି। ଖରାଦିନେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ସବୁ ହୋଟେଲ(ଭୋଜନାଳୟ)ର ମେନୁକାର୍ଡ଼(ଖାଦ୍ୟ ଚିଠା)ରେ ପଖାଳ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ମିଳେ। ପଖାଳ ସାଙ୍ଗରେ ଭଲ ଚାଖଣା ସବୁ ଖିଆଯାଏ। ସେଇ ୨୦ମାର୍ଚ୍ଚ ଦିନ ହେଉଛି “ବିଶ୍ୱ ହାସ୍ୟ ଦିବସ”। ସେଥିପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଲୋକେ ସୁଖି ରୁହନ୍ତି। ଅକାଣ୍ତିଆ ଚାଉଳ କିମ୍ବା ଧଳା ଚାଉଳ ପଖାଳ ପାଇଁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରାଯାଇ ପାରିବ। ଶ୍ରୀ ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମନ୍ଦିରର ଦହିପଖାଳ ୧୦ମ ଶତକରୁ ତିଆରି ହେଉଛି। କୃଷକମାନେ ପଖାଳ ଖାଆନ୍ତି ଯାହାଦ୍ୱାରା ସେମାନେ କ୍ଷେତରେ କାମ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ବଳ ମିଳିବ, ଓ ଶ୍ରମିକମାନେ ମଧ୍ୟ ସେଥିପାଇଁ ପଖାଳ ଖାଅନ୍ତି। କିଛି ଯାଗାରେ ବାହାଘରରେ ବର ଓ ବଧୁ ମଧ୍ୟ ପଖାଳ ଖାଅନ୍ତି, ଯାହାର କିଛି ଧାର୍ମିକ ମହତ୍ତ୍ୱ ଥାଏ ବୋଲି କୁହାଯାଏ। Some #Pakhala pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/BGT1cRHyPZe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BGE0BPcyPRZ/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BD_aCs7SPWE/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BE338lnyPQd/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BHH1nHfj1gb/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BGjxoHWyPQk/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BHsZ152jT5U/ 

Cheers, Ashish

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Preparation process of Dalama

Lets learn how to prepare Dalama/Dalma/Dalema (डालमा/डालेमा). 

1) Take some vegetables like Potato, Pumpkin, Brinjal, Raw Papaya, Raw Banana, Saaru.

2) Cut the vegetables and wash the Harada/Toovar dal.

   3) Put the vegetables, dal, turmeric powder, salt and water 

       in pressure cooker. 

      (If the turmeric is of the pure quality from Kandhamal district

       of Odisha, then it adds to the taste.)

  4) Boil it till the cooker sounds 3 to 4 whistles.

 5) Fry some jeera, sorisha (mustard), methi, piaaja (onion), 

     rasuNa (garlic), adaa (ginger), sukhila  lanka (red chilly) 

     in either ghee or oil.

   6) Put some already boiled vegetables+dal in the pan and mix it

  7) Mix that masala in the whole content of boiled vegetables+dal

   Dalama/Dalma/Dalema is ready.

Note: If someone doesn’t take onion and garlic, then they can avoid it. They can just use jeera, mustard, red chilly etc for the fry. The dalama can be taken with bhata(rice)/ruti(roti)/puri/upama. 

Thanks

Ashish

[ Odia version of the blog is available at  MEDIUM.COM (Click here) ]