10 Odia Dishes to Try If You Are Visiting for Rath Yatra 2025

Producer: Priyanka Das | Editor: Sujata Singh
June 26 2025

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Chhappan Bhog (56 Bhog) is popular all across the country but especially so in Odisha where it is offered to Lord Jagannath every day. The offering comprises of 56 food items that are first offered to the deity and then to his followers.

Chhappan Bhog

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A variation of dahi vada, it is said to have originated in Cuttack but is now popular across Odisha. The dish is prepared by soaking vadas with diluted dahi. After this, potato curry and pea curry is added to the dish and topped off with sliced onion, coriander leaves and sev.

Dahi Bara Aloodum

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One of the most traditional Odia dishes, mati handi mutton is traditionally prepared in an earthen pot by mixing meat pieces with local spices and slow cooked over wood fire, making it one of the best mutton dishes you’ll ever have.

Mati Handi Mutton

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Odisha’s rasagola is traditionally offered as part of bhog to Goddess Lakshmi at Puri’s Jagannath Temple and has a revered history along with its signature sugar syrup dipped milk-based sweet dish.

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Chhena poda is prepared by mixing cottage cheese with sugar and baking it in an earthen oven covered with sal leaves to lend it a smoky flavour. A chance discovery by a baker a century ago is now one of the most iconic Odia sweets of all time.

Chhena Poda

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Seafood lovers are sure to go ga-ga over this Odia-style crab curry dish that brings all the flavours of its vast coastline on your plate. Kankada jhola is cooked in mustard oil along with cumin, coriander, garam masala paste.

Kankada Jhola

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Chingudi jhola is Odia-style prawn curry that differs from other places with an abundance of tomato and garlic that also lends the curry a reddish hue and spicy flavour. Moreover, some places also prepare the dish by using coconut-cashew paste.

Chingudi Jhola

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Macha besara is an Odisha-style fish curry in which rohu fish is cooked in mustard sauce, with dry mango slices incorporated to lend the gravy a slightly tart flavour.

Macha Besara

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Pakhala is essentially rice that has been fermented overnight with water, served alongside fried fish or a selection of dry vegetables such as potato and brinjal. This nutritious dish is primarily consumed in the summer months for its cooling properties.

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Made by deep-frying layered fritters that are soaked in sugar syrup, khajaa is the perfect example of a sweet dish that can be used for any occasion. Khajaa is also part of ‘Sukhila Prasad’ at Jagannath Temple.