The Orissan-Book review

                                   The Orissan – A New Perspective on the History and Food Culture of Odisha

                                                                                                Book Review by Deekshitulu Subrahmanyam, Rajamahendravaram

The book The Orissan, presented by three authors of Odia origin (two of whom are women)—Pallavi Das, Sandeep Das, and Alka Jena—has introduced the culture of the Odisha region of Bharat to the world from a new perspective.

For Pallavi Das, the co-author of this book, The Orissan initially began as a personal quest to discover her roots. Gradually, it evolved into an in-depth study of the history, food culture, traditions, and customs of Odisha. Blending stories, memories, and research, this 376-page book reveals another dimension of Odisha.

Kalinga established its distinct identity long before the Mughals influenced Indian food culture. Centuries before Columbus undertook his sea voyage, Kalinga sailors travelled to the islands of Bali. In the temples here, grand offerings were made to the deities. Many stories and traces of Odisha’s history have survived not only in its monuments but also in its food, rituals, and memories passed down through generations.

For researcher Pallavi Das, understanding Odisha meant exploring her own roots. Born into an Odia family, she grew up in Mumbai, Malaysia, and New York. Although she had a connection with Odisha through her family, she did not grow up in the state. This distance made her even more interested in the history, traditions, and culture she had inherited. She began to examine deeply where she came from and what had influenced her family.

“The Orissan was created for everyone who is searching for their identity and exploring answers to the questions, ‘Who am I? Where do I come from?’” Das stated. She realised that growing up among different cultures meant these questions were not limited to her alone. “If I am asking myself these questions about my heritage, I felt that many others might also have the same questions,” she said.

Pallavi, her father Sandeep Das, and Alka Jena, an expert in Odia cuisine, worked together on this project. Each of the three has a different connection with Odisha. While Sandeep Das contributed historical research and an artistic perspective, Alka Jena contributed her extensive knowledge of Odia food, cooking methods, rituals, and dishes.

She stated that working with Alka Jena also led to discussions about women, sisterhood, and the kitchen. “We are two women who wanted to reclaim the kitchen and the hearth, believing them to be wonderful spaces,” she said. She added that her father, Sandeep Das, being part of this project made it an even more personal experience.

The authors stated that their objective was not to limit themselves to the temples, historical monuments, and classical arts of Odisha that are generally known to the public, but to uncover the stories behind them. They explored folk tales, family memories, mythology, rituals, epics, and traditions that have continued across generations.

“One of our objectives was to introduce readers to the more intimate stories that shaped Odisha, going beyond familiar places and historical monuments,” they said. In this process, research became crucial. They examined historical texts, scholarly studies, information in archives, and oral narratives. They also spoke to many people who continue to practise and preserve these traditions.

“We wanted readers to understand not only what Odisha is famous for, but also why those traditions originated and how they evolved over time,” the authors said.

Food became an important means of understanding this history. In Das’s view, cuisine is not limited merely to cooking methods and flavours. She believes that food can also help us understand how people lived, how they performed worship, how they preserved their memories, and how they celebrated.

“Our objective is to connect history with food, memories, rituals, and personal narratives so that readers can experience Odisha not merely as a place, but as a living culture that is constantly evolving,” Pallavi explained.

The years she spent outside India also influenced the way the book was developed. She felt that understanding the background of cultural stories was essential. She observed that the lack of such background information was one reason why Odisha remained relatively unfamiliar to many people.

“Many people outside India, too, know very little about Odisha. This is because they have not been given the right approach or introduction to enter and understand that culture,” the authors said.

Das stated that her experience in journalism had also helped shape the book. She said that stories about regional cultures and traditions were currently receiving good attention. Readers, she explained, were showing greater interest in understanding cultures through food, traditions, and everyday life rather than through broad stereotypes.

“The Orissan was also created in the same spirit. If readers become interested not only in learning about an Odia dish but also in understanding the people, stories, and civilisation behind it, our effort will have succeeded,” she said.

She stated that every culture remains alive only when new voices belonging to a new generation reinterpret it in their own way. Das said that this was the real objective she wanted to achieve through The Orissan. The authors stated that their aspiration was not merely to preserve the stories of Odisha that had already been told, but also to encourage people to tell stories that had not yet come to light.

The three of them approached this book through different paths: a daughter living far away from home, a father holding on to old memories, and a woman who had spent years in a kitchen whose history had been forgotten.

While Odisha has been offering food to the world through its temples, they asked themselves why Odisha should remain hungry within the story of its own history.

That question led them on a long journey of three years through palm-leaf manuscripts, royal palace kitchen records, the culinary traditions of various social groups, and festival calendars that had remained unchanged for eight hundred years. The narratives in the book extend from the sacred Mahaprasad of Puri to the tribal heartland of Koraput and to the ladle in the hand of a grandmother in Cuttack. They not only documented details that had never been recorded before but also revived a culture that was almost disappearing.

“When I was in New York, I learned to describe food and vegetables using terms such as ‘zero waste,’ ‘farm to table,’ and ‘gut health.’ I paid huge amounts of money in the markets there for something that my grandmother had practised every morning without giving it any special name and without spending even a rupee.

In her kitchen, orange peels would be turned into chutney. Pumpkin flowers would be coated in batter and fried like fritters. Banana stems would become a delicious curry. Fish heads would go into vegetable curries. No ingredient that was fit to be consumed as food would leave that kitchen as waste.

This was not a philosophy she had read about in books; it was the only way of cooking she had learned. A long tradition dating back 2,500 years remained alive in her hands.

It was the fear that one day those hands would stop working and that nobody might record this knowledge in writing that prompted me to begin this book,” Pallavi Das said.

The kitchen of the Puri Jagannath Temple, known as the Rosaghara, is 150 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 20 feet high. Water is drawn here from two sacred wells called Ganga and Jamuna. Although food is served to thousands of devotees every day, there is never a shortage of food in this kitchen. It is believed that this is a divine miracle of Lord Jagannath.

Cooking is done on wood-fired stoves, with earthen pots arranged one above another. Tasting the food while it is being cooked is not permitted.

Some special offerings from the Chhappan Bhog include:

• Kanika (Khanika): Sweet rice prepared with ghee and raisins.
• Khechudi (Khechudi): Khichdi made with lentils and rice.
• Dahi Pakhala (Dahi Pakhala): Fermented rice mixed with curd.
• Rasabali: A sweet dish made by soaking fried cheese (chhena) patties in milk boiled with aromatic spices.
• Ghee Anna: Pure white rice adorned with sacred ghee.