Bhubaneswar, April 9: A festival of Odia cuisine centering around ‘Pakhala’, the traditional food of Odisha and popular in most homes for ages, kicked off at the School of Hotel Management (SHM), faculty of hospitality and tourism management of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here on Wednesday.
The ‘Pakhala Utsav’, as it has come to be known, is an endeavour of SHM to popularize the traditional dish, Ms. Saswati Das, Vice-President of SOA, who inaugurated the five-day festival, said.
The festival, which has become an annual event at the institute, will be held till April 13. Visitors will be served ‘Pakhala’ along with several other accompanying dishes between 12 noon and 3 pm everyday in an ambience resembling a traditional Odia village.
Several variants of ‘Pakhala’ like ‘Usuna Pakhala’, ‘Arua Pakhala’, ‘Dahi Pakhala’, ‘Lembu Pakhala’ and ‘Ada Pakhala’ will be served to the guests with accompanying dishes like ‘Fish Patrapoda’, ‘Machha Bhaja’, ‘Chingudi Chhecha’, ‘Kukuda Kasha’, ‘Machha Kalia’, ‘Chhatu Patrapoda’, ‘Alu Kalara Batti Tarkari’, ‘Baigana Bhaja’, ‘Alu Baigana’ , ‘Nadia Bhaja’, ‘Saga Badi Bhaja’, ‘Kancha Amba’, ‘Tomato Chhecha’ and ‘Badi Chura’.
“It is an attempt to help Pakhala reach a wider clientele while upholding Odisha’s tradition and culture,” Prof. Susanta Ranjan Chaini, Dean of SHM, said.
