Jagannath Rath Yatra: Heavenly Odiya Dessert Recipes You Should Cook This Time Of Year

The famous 9-day festival “Jagannath Rath Yatra” starts today. The festival holds great significance in Hindu mythology and is celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm all over the world. The three deities – Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra are collected from Jagannath Puri temple, Odisha in large chariots and taken to Gundicha temple. The Rath Yatra is a cultural extravaganza which is celebrated with traditional music and various flavors of Odisha. The deities are served with Chhappan Bhog in the daily rituals which contain a total of 56 dishes to seek blessings from the Almighty. Here is a list of mouth-watering traditional dishes worth trying during this cultural celebration.

1. Podhapitha

Ingredients required

• 300 grams of rice flour
• 150 grams black gram powder (without outer skin)
• 1 cup coconut, grated
• 10-15 slices of coconut
• 200 grams of jaggery powder
• 50 grams of cashews, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of ghee
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

• Take a bowl and mix the rice flour, black gram flour, salt and baking powder. Add water to the mixture and stir well until smooth.
• Now add shredded coconut, jaggery powder and cashews to it. Keep the dough aside for 2 hours for proper fermentation.
• Take a pressure cooker and preheat it. Add the oil and formulate a thin layer all around. Now pour the batter into the slow cooker, cover the lid and cook for about 1 hour without whistling.
• Cut into slices and serve.

2. Rasabali

Ingredients required

For the chenna dumplings

• 250 grams Chenna
• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Sooji
• 1 teaspoon of Maida
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• Ghee/oil for frying

For the milk solution

• 1 liter of milk
• Sugar as needed
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
• ½ cup dried fruit, sliced
• Saffron

Method

• Take a bowl, add some chenna, sooji, maida, sugar and baking soda and knead it into a soft dough
• Now make small round balls from this dough and flatten them into a round shaped disk. Make a small hole in the middle.
• Take a deep container and heat some oil in it. Add these balls to the oil and fry until crispy.
• Now take another container, add milk to it and boil until it is reduced by half.
• Add the sugar, cardamom, saffron and dried fruit.
• Once done, turn off the heat and set it aside for a while to settle.
• Add the fried meatballs to the mixture and serve.

3. Chenna Poda

Ingredients required

• 1 liter of milk
• 250 grams paneer, crushed
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ¼ cup) sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Rava suji
• 3 tablespoons of water
• 1 teaspoon of ghee
• 5 badams, chopped
• 5 cashews, chopped
• 5 raisins
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

Method

• Take a bowl and add some crumbled paneer to it and add ¼ cup sugar and 2 tbsp rava. Mix everything well.
• Now add water, mix well and prepare a smooth paste. Once done, add 1 ghee, badam, cashews, raisins and cardamom powder and mix well.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

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