Reader’s Digest
60 february 2020
wheat and sattu, they are
mixed with seasoning
and simply thrown
into ovens and baked.
Travelling down cen-
turies from the Magad-
han kingdom, today they
are Bihar’s foremost deli-
cacy. Drizzled with ghee and relished
with chokha on the side, littis have tra-
velled to other states too. Chokha is a
mash of roasted potatoes or eggplants,
with tomatoes, sauteed raw onions,
chillies and fresh coriander with a gen-
erous helping of pungent mustard oil.
Popular Choice: Litti ChokhaJharkhand
Rugda curry:Rugda mushrooms
grow mainly around sal trees in the
damp, wild forests of Jharkhand. They
are available in plenty during the mon-
soons and are dug out by tribal women
from the undergrowths and sold in the
markets. Generally muddy when col-
lected, they are rubbed clean and win-
nowed before they can be cooked into
a curry—hence the name. Meaty and
delicious, they are cooked into a rich
curry with spices and mustard oil, and
can be a good substitute for those who
cannot afford meats. Rugda curry, a
tribal dish, is fast gaining a reputation
as Jharkhand’s best-known food.
Popular Choice: Rugda CurryOdisha
Chenna Poda: There are many happy
accidents in our culinary history. Thisdish—Odisha’s showstopper dessert—
is one. The story goes, in the first half of
the 20th century, Sudarshan Sahu, the
owner of a sweet shop in Nayagarh,
added sugar and cardamom to some
leftover chenna (Indian cottage
cheese), kept the mix in an oven and
went to bed. Next morning, he was
pleasantly surprised to find an aro-
matic dessert that was soft inside and
caramelized and crusty on top. Today,
the flavoured, sweetened chenna is
wrapped in sal leaves and baked in a
charcoal oven for many hours, produ-
cing this subtle Indian cheesecake.
Popular Choice: Chenna PodaWest Bengal
Kolkata Biryani:
When Wajid Ali Shah,
the ousted Nawab of
Oudh, reached Cal-
cutta in 1856, he wanted
to recreate Lucknow in Metiabruz.
Shah’s bawarchis set up a royal kitchen,
but were financially constrained. Saf-
fron was eliminated and, to compen-
sate for the shortage of meat, they
added potatoes and eggs—and, thus
was born the Kolkata biryani. Another
theory suggests that the region’s cli-
mate may have led to the choices as
well. Pale yellow and fragrant, this bir-
yani is lightly spiced and cooked in
mustard oil. Of course, there are many
gharanas now, each of which is stoutly
defended by argumentative Kolkatans.
Popular Choice: Mishti Doi
— Sanghamitra Chakraborty