BHUBANESWAR: Amid coronavirus scare people observed Pakhala Dibasa in the city, Friday. Many city hotels and restaurants offered several Odia cusines along with a bowl of cooked rice soaked in water to the people, while many ate it at their homes to avoid any type of fear from the virus.
Soumya Mohanty, a city resident said, “It is rightly said that Odisha is the best kept secret of India and so is the Odia cuisine. The authentic Odia cuisine is so complex in nature and it has so many layers to it that it is difficult to put them together. Probably the best example would be Lord Jagannath’s ‘Chhappan Bhog’. There are 13 major festivals in Odisha celebrated throughout the year and each festival has its own set of unique food. Similarly, for each season the eating habits change among Odias as we eat according to climatic conditions. Now that summer is here, every Odia would eat pakhala to keep cool.”
People of the state eat pakhala which has multiple variants such as saja pakhala, dahi pakhala, basi pakhala, baghara pakhala and much more. There are varieties of side dishes to go with pakhala such as sweet and savoury mango Chutney, burnt tomato and baingan bharta, spicy mixture paga, Onion and cauliflower pakudi, drumsticks, aloo bhujia and badi.
You have non vegetarian options as well such as fried fish, chingudi chhecha Pakhala is considered healthy and delicious. It gives the much needed hydration to the body said chef Michael who had cancelled the mega celebration of Pakhala Dibasa because of coronavirus.
Many city residents enjoyed the dish at home and posted it at social media.
Earlier, the coronavirus effect was felt in state’s very own ‘Pakhala Divas’ celebration in the Capital city as many hotels and restaurants had to shelve plans to celebrate the day.
City based restaurant Michael’s Kitchen had called off their plans of celebration in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. The inauguration ceremony of Odia Pakhala Festival which was scheduled to be held on Pakhala Dibasa, March 20, is being postponed.
Talking to Orissa POST chef Michael said that business has been suffering drastically in last few days as there footfall dropped by 80 percent. “This is the reason we decided to cancel the celebration,” he added.
Sridhar Maharana, manager of city based hotel said, “Due to the present situation we cancelled the celebration of Pakhala Divas. We have also refrained from arranging any meetings of any kind at our hotel till the situation turns for the better.”
Mayfair Hotel, in a press statement, said that they have constituted a dedicated in-house team which has been mandated to monitor the implementation of and adherence to the precautionary and safety measures issued by the Health ministry. Non-invasive laser thermometers are being used to screen guests apart from having an in-house medical team to deal with exigency.”
Hoteliers in Odisha, Wednesday, sought the state government’s help in overcoming the financial crisis faced by them in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), a body of private hotels, has sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue.
“We appreciate the steps taken by the state government to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The HRAO pledges full support to the government. But the travel, trade and hotel industry of Odisha is going to bear a huge financial burden as many inbound tourists are cancelling their bookings,” HRAO chairman J K Mohanty said.
