Some of Nandita Das’ fondest memories are of visiting her paternal grandparents’ home in Baripada in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. The filmmaker and actor, who grew up in Delhi and is part Odia and part Gujarati, gets nostalgic when she speaks of the annual summer holidays she spent in the eastern State.
These included visits to the Jagannath temple which was barely five minutes away from her house and the weekly haat (market) and town markets to have street food and to visit extended family. “My cousins and I would put together a ‘variety programme’ at the end of our holiday. I was quite the ringleader back then — teaching plays, songs, and dances I had learned at my school in Delhi!” shares Nandita. Stating that she often gets mistaken to be a Bengali because of her surname, she adds, “Presumptions are often not facts. I even set my last film, Zwigato, in Bhubaneswar to show a different part of the country that is seldom seen in Hindi films,” she adds.
But most of all, what stands out is the memory of her grandmother cooking vegetables such as aalu, parwal and baingan on the chulha and the wood-fired aroma of raw mustard oil, onion, garlic and crushed green chillies. “The taste is still fresh in my mind,” she says. So, when the regional Indian cuisine restaurant Chor Bizarre in Delhi asked her if she would like to curate an Odia food pop-up for them, Nandita jumped at the opportunity. “I’ve always wondered why Odia food is not available anywhere except in homes in Odisha. It’s a pity that we have not been able to market our food. Let alone making it popular, we haven’t even made it available,” she rues.
An Odia thali
For the curation, she enlisted the help of her friend Mona Lisa Bal, the chairperson of KIIT International School in Bhubaneswar at whose home, she has enjoyed many memorable meals. They have also brought with them a local cook from Odisha, who along with the chefs from the restaurant, will be putting together what can only be described as an Odia feast. “This time, too many cooks are not going to spoil the broth!” she laughs.
Odia cuisine, Nandita shares, is simple, mildly spiced and flavourful. “There are various kinds of saag, badi (lentil dumplings), fish and a lot of delectable desserts. The spices don’t overpower the produce, so you can experience the inherent flavours of the vegetables or meats, making it a healthier cuisine,” she says, adding that the seasoning is what makes it unique. “Food is mostly cooked in mustard oil or desi ghee. We’re so used to heightened, overpowering flavours and I hope people will be open to experiencing the more nuanced and subtle flavours of Odia food,” she says.
So, what is on the menu? Nandita has included many of her personal favourite dishes including kusala saaga (amaranth leaves with badi), mushroom or fish in mustard paste baked in banana leaf, ou (elephant apple chutney) and chhena podo (baked cottage cheese) for dessert.
There is also potala chingudi bhaja (seasoned prawn stuffed in pointed gourd), dalma (lentil with coconut and vegetables) and kasa mangso (slow-cooked dry lamb) among other dishes. “I am also making dahi baingan for the pop-up which is my father’s (renowned artist Jatin Das) recipe and is very Odia,” says the actor-filmmaker. She adds, “He’s always been an instinctive cook, and I grew up eating his food. His recipes are his own but have their roots in Odia cuisine.”
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Published - November 26, 2024 03:35 pm IST
